I so enjoyed this book! (I've seen the '96 ITV version with Alex Kingston also)

This book was an interesting read, if only for the historical value. The narrator gives many details on how people lived in 1600s England, particularly women, and particularly women in dire circumstances. Because the book is often focused on her financial situation, it is full of information about how people lived on a day to day basis that is not included in other historical books I've read.

However, as far as the story itself goes, I thought that it could have been better (at least judging from modern standards). The majority of the book is narrated in a "then this happened, then this happened" style, with little dialogue or character development (in fact, the vast majority of characters don't even have names). It's written almost like a list of events that happened in the narrator's life. Perhaps because of this, the narrator's emotions at times felt quite flat and inconsistent. For instance, she at one point insists that she loves someone dearly, only to say in the next sentence that she "wishes heartily" that she could be rid of them. The book is full of inconsistencies of this sort; the character seems to do and feel whatever is convenient to the plot at the time.

Spoiler

The thing that bothered me the most was that she apparently has no trouble abandoning her many children, although she does ensure that they are minimally provided for, at least at the time that she leaves them. She then goes on to tell one of her children that he is her only child (???) when she meets him again as an adult, even though she had another child with that child's father. Another issue along the same lines is that although the book is supposed to be a morality tale about her mending her ways, and she does leave off committing crimes at the end, she seems to be just as deceitful and materialistic as before her reformation. Again though this could just be a question of judging a 300 year old book by modern standards.

I would recommend this book to people who are interested in history and learning more about this time period. However, don't expect the book to read like a typical novel, with a consistent overarching plot, frequent dialogue, or significant character development.

Poor old Moll. I lost count of how many husbands she married, and how many kids she had.

I found it amusing she was so emotional about her son in America, when she had at least 3? 4? kids running around England.

It's a good example for us women though: don't become a pickpocket, and don't marry your own brother.

I feel like I should have kept the memories of Robyn Wright-Penn's performance in my mind, instead of deciding to read the original book. This was fairly painful to get through, and not at all as uplifting as the movie version.