Slammerkin

I read upwards of forty books of fiction a year... this one is among the most memorable of the past couple years. I do not see a flaw, I am not sure of any way it can be improved upon. I just think it is superb, in its style and content... to be honest, I think that Donoghue creates someone here, in this character of Mary Saunders, even more memorable than Anna K., and believe me, I am a die-hard Tolstoyite!
Mary is forced into extremities, she is driven into a latter half of an 18th century London that, quite frankly, will use her to its (and her) limits. Anyone who knows history knows that London is ready for such a challenge.
Does relocation help Mary? Her move to a more rural setting?
Not really. Vice is not population-specific. Vice is everywhere.
Mary gets caught in a web she did not want to weave. She makes a valiant and sincere attempt to change her ways with a risk-laden move from London to Monmouth... will her intentions be able to get her through the realities that await her?
This book is about the difference between intentions and realities. How the best intentions, can go astray!
Nathaniel Hawthorne would have got a kick out of Donoghues's work. It is so unequivocably good. Every sub-character will jab you in the butt to remind you that he/she is real, much less the main ones... which (believe me) you will never forget.
Donaghue is a genius. Some sort of literary savant. The book is worth whatever price, and a generous tip besides.
You will laugh, and you will weep.
What price tag can you affix to that?
Affix it, and pay it. This book is worth it.

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