My grandmother recommended this book to me because of the writing and I agree it was well written. I’d never read anything by the author before. 

I’m honestly shocked at the negative reviews and I’m also a little irritated that so many of the negative reviews complained that Mary made bad choices, seemed to only care about prostitution, and she should have had encounters with people who treated her better so there was some joy in the book. 

Mary never wanted to be a prostitute. There was never any talk about sex for her as a child other than for girls to not lay with boys. When the whole thing happened with the ribbon peddler, it’s clear Mary didn’t understand what was happening. And from that point forward, she didn’t really have a choice. She was blamed for her transgressions. Then she proceeded to have the same thing taken from her over and over until she met Doll. She saw Doll and a way to perhaps get what she wanted, but she didn’t understand the nuances until it was far too late. She didn’t see the cracks under the fancy clothes. She thought she could dabble and save money and have a better life. She could have made better choices in the church, but leading a better life meant giving up on her own independence and money and Mary didn’t want that.

She could have made better choices in Monmouth and I think the people there truly cared about her, but she was paranoid to be discovered and still harbored hope for a different future in a time when people didn’t get to go from rags to riches. I didn’t agree with Mary, but the choices spread out before her were stifling. And her desire to be her own person didn’t seem unreasonable, as if she was a modern character in a historical book. She seemed like a teenager and had she not had such an unfortunate encounter, she never would have gone that path. But we all get used to what we get used to. 

I thought the scene was Daffy was very eye opening. I thought she’d make a different choice with him, but she didn’t know at first that love and marriage came with expectation of having children and she could already see how that demand was wearing on Mrs Jones who failed to provide a son. And when Mary finally chose intimacy on her own terms, it was just as disappointing as when it was transactional or taken from her and she had no idea until it was happening. 

I thought Mary was dumb and made bad choices, but I also saw the corners she was wedged into. The only good choices for her were ones that took away her autonomy or dreams and it isn’t that illogical for her to choose her terrible job when it was the only way for her to truly earn the money she thought would save her. 

I thought Slammerkin was a brilliant novel that showcased the lack of choices for women should they misstep in that time frame. Yes it was graphic and no it wasn’t full of joy, but it was a fantastic novel.