I found this book really interesting as it gives a whole other perspective of women’s lives in this time. I am used to reading Jane Austen novels where many of the characters are from rich and noble families - some of the characters may need to, or be expected to, marry for money but there is no real sense of hardship or suffering.

And then I read this book which comes from the perspective of a woman that isn’t from either a rich family, or from the working classes (like in Dickens’ books). She is in the middle and therefore faces real difficulties, as it would be considered degrading for her to be seen seeking employment, and yet she is too lowly to marry a rich man, so in order to survive without compromising her social standing and (outward) respectability, she has to resort to stealing! This opened up a brand new train of thought to me - I hadn’t realised how hard life was for respectable but poor women in these times (naive of me I suppose, but I am used to reading Jane Austen and PG Wodehouse, with their image of life).

Anyway I do admire Moll Flanders, she is quite wicked and does some shocking things, but she is so determined and brave and independent, and she is only doing all these things in order to survive. (I can’t believe the amount of husbands she gets through though - and that one man proposes to her and yet, while he is away for a time, she marries another man and actually has his baby, then after he leaves she is all single again and ready for the original man’s return)!

And I do admire her strength and courage and the way she just deals with every situation and everything that life throws at her. She is inspiring.