Welcome to the Historical Fiction Online forums: a friendly place to discuss, review and discover historical fiction.
If this is your first visit, please be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above.
You will have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed.
To start viewing posts, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.
If this is your first visit, please be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above.
You will have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed.
To start viewing posts, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.
Moll Flanders
-
- Reader
- Posts: 107
- Joined: June 2010
Moll Flanders
I continued my current re-reading of the classics with this one, first read 40 years ago, and I was pleased to have my fond memories of it refreshed. One of the earliest British novels, this masquerades as a memoir, with Defoe handling the female perspective of the eponymous heroine just as well as he did Robinson Crusoe. I call her 'heroine' though Moll's adventures as sometime prostitute and recidivist thief would seem to disqualify her from such a status but for her late redemption and reform. In any case, we never think of her as a real villain, rather one who is forced by circumstances to make her way in life the best she can. She does admit to being an easy prey to temptation, and she is her own best apologist. As Moll says herself, her 'wicked' life is a lot more interesting to read than her return to virtue and prosperity. We learn a good deal along the way about the harsh conditions of living in late 17th Century England, and of the brutal treatment wrong-doers might expect, both from the courts and, if they catch you, from the mob. Humour and romance help to alleviate the gloom which, along with Moll's winning narrative, always keep us on her side even while she commits her more outrageous sins.
We have a local connection to Defoe in my locality and he is one of my favourite writers. Moll is a particular delight but did you count how many children she had?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2011/ ... efoe-blake
Defoe's headstone is now in the Hackney Museum having travelled around the country a bit.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2011/ ... efoe-blake
Defoe's headstone is now in the Hackney Museum having travelled around the country a bit.
Currently reading - Emergence of a Nation State by Alan Smith
- Margaret
- Bibliomaniac
- Posts: 2440
- Joined: August 2008
- Interest in HF: I can't answer this in 100 characters. Sorry.
- Favourite HF book: Checkmate, the final novel in the Lymond series
- Preferred HF: Literary novels. Late medieval and Renaissance.
- Location: Catskill, New York, USA
- Contact:
It's been years since I read this, but I remember laughing a lot and feeling a lot of affection for Moll and her ability to bounce back from calamity.
Browse over 5000 historical novel listings (probably well over 5000 by now, but I haven't re-counted lately) and over 700 reviews at www.HistoricalNovels.info
-
- Reader
- Posts: 107
- Joined: June 2010
- Prof.Hirata
- Scribbler
- Posts: 15
- Joined: October 2013
- Prof.Hirata
- Scribbler
- Posts: 15
- Joined: October 2013
- princess garnet
- Bibliophile
- Posts: 1794
- Joined: August 2008
- Location: Maryland
That's Alex Kingston.
She later played Boudica in "Warrior Queen" which aired on "Masterpiece Theater" here in the US in 2003.
She later played Boudica in "Warrior Queen" which aired on "Masterpiece Theater" here in the US in 2003.