I've just finished Slammerkin today and I really enjoyed it. I had it on my to-read list for years but never seemed to get around to it until I suddenly found about two weeks ago that I wasn't terribly thrilled with anything on my bookshelf. So I picked it up at the library, and glad I did.
It's certainly an interesting book. Young Mary Saunders grows up poor, the daughter of a London seamstress, but hankers for the finer things in life. Her biggest desire is to own a red ribbon that she's seen one of the prostitutes wearing. She tries to get one from the peddler by giving him a kiss, but instead he rapes her; when her mother discovers Mary's pregnant, she throws her out of the house and Mary ends up becoming a prostitute to survive. Light reading, huh? The weirdest thing, though, is that I never particularly liked Mary and yet I still really liked the book. She's intelligent and unlike most of the girls she keeps company with, she gets multiple chances to escape prostitution and have a chance at a "normal" life -- but instead, she throws the opportunities away, and for no real discernible reason besides momentary whims. I didn't particularly like Wuthering Heights because I thought the characters were silly, so I'm not sure why the same thing works here, but it does.
Next up: I'm not sure what book I shall pick up next, although I have the two about polygamy and Mormons that recently came out (Escape and Stolen Innocence, I think). I also have some Chick Lit book that I read a good review of in People, though can't remember the title. The Olympics has been throwing me off, so time will tell I suppose!
It's certainly an interesting book. Young Mary Saunders grows up poor, the daughter of a London seamstress, but hankers for the finer things in life. Her biggest desire is to own a red ribbon that she's seen one of the prostitutes wearing. She tries to get one from the peddler by giving him a kiss, but instead he rapes her; when her mother discovers Mary's pregnant, she throws her out of the house and Mary ends up becoming a prostitute to survive. Light reading, huh? The weirdest thing, though, is that I never particularly liked Mary and yet I still really liked the book. She's intelligent and unlike most of the girls she keeps company with, she gets multiple chances to escape prostitution and have a chance at a "normal" life -- but instead, she throws the opportunities away, and for no real discernible reason besides momentary whims. I didn't particularly like Wuthering Heights because I thought the characters were silly, so I'm not sure why the same thing works here, but it does.
Next up: I'm not sure what book I shall pick up next, although I have the two about polygamy and Mormons that recently came out (Escape and Stolen Innocence, I think). I also have some Chick Lit book that I read a good review of in People, though can't remember the title. The Olympics has been throwing me off, so time will tell I suppose!
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