Moll Flanders

In her fictional autobiography, Moll Flanders passes through just about every option open to a woman of the eighteenth century: seamstress, aspiring individual, fallen woman, wife, mother, incest victim, thief, deportee to the American Colonies. Her story is written with breathless directness by Defoe and is read in an equally straightforward fashion by Janet Suzman. The literary conventions of the period required characters to explain their emotions in detail, and Suzman enters into the spirit of these extended explanations, adding depth to Defoe's clunky prose with her vivid tone and pacing. However, these passages create the production's only weakness: Some circumlocutions are extremely dated, and other explanations sound forced when read aloud. G.T.B. (c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine


Moll Flanders was, according to the long title of this work, "twelve year a Whore, five time a Wife (whereof once to her own brother), twelve year a Thief, eight year a transported Felon in Virginia," etc. Virginia Leishman's rendering of this novel is virtually flawless; it's well modulated, with no mispronunciations, stumbles or pauses. Still, it must be said that she seems overly controlled, too flat, more suitable for Jane Austen's well-appointed sitting rooms than for Moll Flanders' rumpled sheets. Earthiness, sensuality, high drama in the storytelling are needed to breathe excitement into an exciting narrative. T.H. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine