Moll's mother is a convict in Newgate Prison in London who is given a reprieve by "pleading her belly," a reference to the custom of staying the executions of pregnant criminals. Her mother is eventually transported to America, and Moll Flanders (not her birth name, she emphasises, taking care not to reveal it) is raised until adolescence by a goodly foster mother. Thereafter she gets attached to a household as a servant where she is loved by both sons, the elder of whom convinces her to "act like they were married" in bed. Unwilling to marry her, he persuades her to marry his younger brother. After five years of marriage, she then is widowed, leaves her children in the care of in-laws, and begins honing the skill of passing herself off as a fortuned widow to attract a man who will marry her and provide her with security.

Medien	Bücher Taschenbuch (Buch mit Softcover und geklebtem Rücken)
Erscheinungsdatum	31. Dezember 2015
ISBN13	9781522983958
Verlag	Createspace Independent Publishing Platf
Seitenanzahl	280
Maße	152 × 229 × 15 mm · 376 g
Sprache	Englisch