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Slammerkin
Slammerkin | Emma Donoghue
Slammerkin: A loose gown; a loose woman. Born to rough cloth in Hogarth's London, but longing for silk, Mary Saunders's eye for a shiny red ribbon leads her to prostitution at a young age. A dangerous misstep sends her fleeing to Monmouth, and the position of household seamstress, the ordinary life of an ordinary girl with no expectations. But Mary has known freedom, and having never known love, it is freedom that motivates her. Mary asks herself if the prostitute who hires out her body is more or less free than the "honest woman" locked into marriage, or the servant who runs a household not her own? And is either as free as a man? Ultimately, Mary remains true only to the three rules she learned on the streets: Never give up your liberty. Clothes make the woman. Clothes are the greatest lie ever told.
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review
JackieGreco
Slammerkin | Emma Donoghue
Panpan

Would not recommend. I kept waiting for the main character to develop some complexity and depth but it never happened

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SconsinBookyBadger
Slammerkin | Emma Donoghue
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MC commits a crime over her admiration of nice clothes. Is she sorry not sorry for what she has done?

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BarbaraBB
Slammerkin | Emma Donoghue
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@emilyhaldi I remember you loving The Crimson Petal and the White recently. Look what Karin Slaughter has to say about it*! Slammerkin might be up your alley😘!

(*Interview in the NYT, sent all the way to Europe to me by the unsurpassed @Cinfhen )

Oh, and since Karin Slaughter loves it, you will probably too @swishandflick 😂

Kalalalatja With a recommendation like that, I need to read Slammerkin! 6y
AmyG I loved the Crimson Petal. I had no idea this book was similar. Stacked! 6y
batsy @Kalalalatja @AmyG Chiming in with more love for Slammerkin, loved it! 6y
See All 10 Comments
Cathythoughts Definitely stacking ... so many books to read 😱 6y
Cinfhen This was a a REALLY good review section!!! Your TBR is going to quadruple 6y
Redwritinghood I really liked Slammerkin, but not better than Crimson Petal. 6y
LeahBergen I second what @Redwritinghood said. 👍🏻 6y
emilyhaldi Omg!!! So glad this made you think of me ❤️ frankly I am still working through my book hangover from Crimson Petal... Slammerkin has been on my shelf for a few years but I have yet to pick it up. Now I‘m SUPER excited!!! 6y
arubabookwoman Wondering who the interviewee is? 6y
BarbaraBB @arubabookwoman Karin Slaughter! 6y
68 likes3 stack adds10 comments
review
Kitta
Slammerkin | Emma Donoghue
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Pickpick

Interesting read! I love how much research Emma Donoghue does for her novels, it‘s really impressive and the detail really comes through in her writing. This definitely wasn‘t her best, and I found some of the sex scenes hard to deal with, but it‘s a quick historical read, if you‘re into that kind of thing.

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Jabberwocky
Slammerkin | Emma Donoghue
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AWWWE! Thank you @BookishTrish ! I was so excited to have #bookmail waiting for me after a long sick day! The chocolate looks amazing and I am so excited for both books!! @FantasyChick @Andrea4 #seatosea

BookishTrish Enjoy the books! I cannot overstate how much I love Denman Island chocolate and hope you will too. 6y
59 likes1 stack add1 comment
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BookishTrish
Slammerkin | Emma Donoghue

@Jabberwocky Do you own Slammerkin?

Jabberwocky No but it sounds amazing!! 6y
BookishTrish I‘ll sent it to you @jabberwocky with the next #seatosea package 📦 6y
Jabberwocky @BookishTrish What!!! that‘s so kind!! 6y
30 likes1 stack add3 comments
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JillR
Slammerkin | Emma Donoghue
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Pickpick

I didn‘t dislike this, but didn‘t love it either. I‘m a bit disappointed as I loved Room and was looking forward to reading more from Emma Donoghue. The final third lifted it for me; it had a feel of Alias Grace. Much of the story is set in Wales so it also unexpectedly matched with our camping trip to Snowdonia! ⛰

Andrew65 Enjoy Snowdonia. 6y
Pruzy What is it about? The Alias Grace comparison has me intrigued! 6y
JillR Sorry for my slow reply @Pruzy - MC is a young girl cast out of the family home who turns to prostitution in desperation. Story starts/ends with accusations against her (trying not to give spoilers!) I didn‘t realise it is based on a true story like Alias Grace until I‘d finished... 6y
50 likes1 stack add3 comments
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Ruthiella
Slammerkin | Emma Donoghue
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Pickpick

The main character of this book becomes a seamstress for a bit which in part leads to her undoing as she is envious of the rich #thread and cloth used for the gowns and cloaks of the wealthy customers. Without ever overtly stating so, this story highlights all the disadvantages of being female and poor in 18th century England. #ReadingResolutions @Jess7

batsy I loved this! 6y
Ruthiella @batty Me too! Emma Donoghue is an interesting writer. Every book that I have read from her is so different! 6y
20 likes2 stack adds2 comments
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JillR
Slammerkin | Emma Donoghue
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Sunday night = new book night. In the mood for some historical fiction...

EvieBee Nice! 6y
Shemac77 I really liked this one! (And I think I need a reread). 6y
toofondofbooks That's a great read! 6y
JillR Thank you @EvieBee :) @Shemac77 @toofondofbooks glad to hear, I‘ve seen some mixed reviews but enjoying so far... 6y
52 likes1 stack add4 comments
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JillR
Slammerkin | Emma Donoghue
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When you suggest a family day out to Lyme Park because you remember there‘s a little pre-loved bookshop... Got this nice little stack for Qd ?

WanderingBookaneer I went over to the library‘s website and placed a hold on 7y
KarenUK Nice!👍I really enjoyed 7y
Mdargusch Beautiful photo. Sounds perfect! 7y
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JillR @WanderingBookaneer ?, it‘s been on my list for a while, I think due to Litsy recommendations... @karenuk such a lovely sunny day, I‘m not sure I‘ve read Kate Mosse before and have been meaning to for a while, couldn‘t say no for Q9! 7y
JillR @Mdargusch such a lovely hot sunny day here in the UK 😎 7y
LeahBergen Perfect! (And great picks 👍🏻). 7y
JillR It was a lovely day @Leahbergen, bonus to come away with books! 7y
Cathythoughts See What I Have Done 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻❤️ 6y
JillR Ooooo glad you liked it @cathythoughts 6y
79 likes1 stack add9 comments
review
KarenJMcLean
Slammerkin | Emma Donoghue
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Mehso-so

I read this book for one of my book clubs, and I finished it with an hour or so to spare.

Some aspects of the book were really well done. The settings of 18th century London and Monmouth were vividly (at times a little too vividly) portrayed. It was clearly well-researched AND well-drawn for the reader.

As for the characters and plot ... I got to the end and asked myself, “What was the point?” No character growth. No lessons learned.

Meh.

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KarenJMcLean
Slammerkin | Emma Donoghue
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Currently reading this for tomorrow night‘s book club. I can‘t decide if I like it or not.

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SconsinBookyBadger
Slammerkin | Emma Donoghue
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Valentine‘s blind date with a book.

27 likes1 stack add
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bookcaterpillar_89
Slammerkin | Emma Donoghue
Mehso-so

I almost bailed on this book. Not sure what it was about this one, but definitely my least favourite Emma Donoghue book so far.

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bookcaterpillar_89
Slammerkin | Emma Donoghue
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I‘m the only one awake right now (besides this young lady who has been running around the house!) and I‘m still trying to get through slammerskin. I‘m not sure what it is about this book but it seems to be taking me forever to get through it! At least I have my cute fur ball to keep me company this morning!

Bookzombie 💕🐱 7y
24 likes1 comment
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bookcaterpillar_89
Slammerkin | Emma Donoghue
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Next book! I‘ve enjoyed every Emma Donoghue book I‘ve read so far, hopefully this one is just as good!

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Bibliogeekery
Slammerkin | Emma Donoghue
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My friend's front porch. I love visiting houses that are filled with books I love! 📚❤️🌸 #bookshelftourism

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MsBlueSox
Slammerkin | Emma Donoghue
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Pickpick

I finished this book right before I went to sleep last night (Ok, let's be real, I stayed up way past my bedtime and finished this book.) and it left me feeling really...bleak. Then, this morning, I was reading an article about it, and I got weirdly infuriated - the article and the publisher both think this is a book about a prostitute who loves clothes. But it is SO MUCH MORE!

3 likes1 stack add
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Ubookquitous
Slammerkin | Emma Donoghue
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Pickpick

Emma Donoghue is another favorite authors - great interview at http://lithub.com/emma-donoghue-and-laird-hunt-on-writing-historical-women/
Mentioned in the interview is Slammerkin - a great historical novel.

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LeahBergen
Slammerkin | Emma Donoghue
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I found one! (and a good one, at that). #HeadlessCovers #PhotoADayNov16

Bibliogeekery This is one of the best books ever!!!!!! 8y
vivastory @LeahBergen I totally forgot about this one when I was hunting for headless covers. Good one! 8y
celtichik That is a good one! 8y
See All 7 Comments
read_diverse_books Yep, this is a proper headless cover! But it seems the head was left off to focus on the cleavage. 😕 8y
Hobbinol It looks like she more than makes up for her acephalous condition, poor dear. 8y
Shemac77 Oooh! I think I may need to read this again. 8y
lynneamch Loved that my edition came with a red satin bookmark. 8y
75 likes3 stack adds7 comments
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Onioons
Slammerkin | Emma Donoghue
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With ruthless love Susan Digot was offering her child all she had, all she knew: a future that went no further than this dank cellar. Mary would inherit it all in the end: the Digot men, the bent back, the needles, the scarlet eyelids. 'I'm sorry' she whispered. For a moment she thought her mother knew what was unspoken between them, the delicacy of their mutual betrayal. For a moment it seemed that they might come to some kind of understanding ❤️

14 likes1 stack add
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paperboats
Slammerkin | Emma Donoghue
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1760s london street prostitution is an unexpectedly fascinating take on women rights and how girls must always stick together. 14 year-old Mary Saunders is our heroine in distress and she is incredible, I can tell she's gonna be able to take care of herself and do whatever she pleases. Wonderful read! ~ halfway through.

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Bibliogeekery
Slammerkin | Emma Donoghue
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Fun Photo Friday #2 - I love Emma Donoghue and this one in particular. I re-read it regularly!

BookMusings I love her too! But shockingly, I haven't read this one. I have it, need to get on that! 8y
Bibliogeekery @BookMusings - how exciting for you! Would love to read it for the first time again! 8y
quirkyreader This was a great book. I first head about on a dreary Sunday at work listening to NPR. I wrote it down and got it from the Bloomington, Indiana library the next day.🐸 8y
26 likes4 stack adds4 comments