Book Description

The Wordsworth Classics covers a huge list of beloved works of literature in English and translations. This growing series is rigorously updated, with scholarly introductions and notes added to new titles.

This novel follows the life of its eponymous heroine through its many vicissitudes, which include her early seduction, careers in crime and prostitution, conviction for theft and transportation to the plantations of Virginia. She ultimately finds redemption and prosperity.

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The recent adaptation of Moll Flanders for Masterpiece Theater is a book-lover's dream: the dialogue and scene arrangement are close enough to allow the viewer to follow along in the book. The liberties taken with the tale are few (some years of childhood between the gypsies and the wealthy family are elided; Moll is Moll throughout the tale, rather than Mrs. Betty; Robert becomes Rowland, etc.) and the sets avoid the careless anachronism of the movie version released earlier this year.

The breasts, raised skirts, tumbling hair and heavy breathing on the small screen might catch you by surprise if you don't read the book carefully (as might Moll's abandonment of her children on more than one occasion). Unlike his near-contemporary John Cleland (_Fanny Hill_), Defoe was trying to keep out of jail, and so didn't dwell on the details of "correspondence" between Moll and her varied lovers. But on the page and on the screen, Moll comes across quite clearly as a woman who might bend, but refuses to break, and who is intent on having as good a life as she can get.

E. M. Forster in Aspects of the Novel considers Moll and her creator's art in some detail. While he finds much to criticize in Defoe's ability to plot (where did those last two children go, anyway?), he is as besotted with Moll as I am. Immoral? Sure -- but immortal, and never, ever dull. We hope at least a few of the viewers of the recent adaptation take a couple hours to discover the original, inimitable Moll Flanders.

From AudioFile

This recording of Daniel Defoe's 1722 novel features a too skimpy abridgment of the tale of the irrepressible title character, born in London's Newgate Gaol. It's read by accomplished British actress, Jan Francis and is part of Hodder's Classic Collection, with a stately English painting gracing the cover. Francis reads with expression but without ornamentation, choosing not to give unique voices to the different characters. It works well here, since Moll is really a one-woman show, and so much of the performance depends on how well the narrator handles her. D.B.

About Author

Virginia Woolf (1882–1941) was a novelist, critic, and essayist whose works include such classics as A Room of One's Own, Mrs. Dalloway, To the Lighthouse, and The Voyage Out (the latter available from the Modern Library in both cloth and paper).

Book Dimension :

length: (cm)19.8 　　　 　　　　　 　　　　　 width:(cm)12.6