15 h 26 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 15 h 26 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What does it take to survive when fortune and misfortune refuse to stay apart?
In The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders, Daniel Defoe places one named life at the center of crime, survival, and redemption. Even the title holds two sides together: Moll’s fortunes matter, but so do her misfortunes. Neither alone promises to tell her story.
First published in 1722, this literary and crime classic invites you to follow Moll Flanders rather than consider crime in the abstract. Survival and redemption share the stage with wrongdoing, raising a question to carry into the opening pages: how will these different strands meet in Moll’s tale?
What you’ll discover
- Fortune and its opposite Follow Moll Flanders through a tale that gives both fortunes and misfortunes their place.
- Crime at the center Explore the crime strand of Defoe’s tale alongside its themes of survival and redemption.
- The question of survival Approach Moll’s story with an eye to what survival might demand.
- Room to consider redemption Read with the promise of redemption in mind, without losing sight of crime.
- A classic from 1722 Discover Daniel Defoe’s Moll Flanders in a work joining literary fiction and crime.
Who will love it
You will enjoy this if you like a lively narrator, a story full of schemes and close escapes, and a close look at how money, marriage and reputation shaped ordinary lives in London.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Independence begins as a childhood dream
- Love promises more than it gives
- A new marriage carries hidden danger
- Fear of poverty shapes affection
- Desperation opens the door to theft
- Success makes stopping seem less urgent
- Marriage becomes a bargain for survival
- Conscience must compete with fear
- Money shapes choices without settling responsibility
Who’s who
- Moll FlandersBorn in Newgate, she wants to be a gentlewoman who earns her own bread, and she survives by wit, charm and increasing daring.
- The elder brotherA clever son of the Colchester household who wins Moll's heart with guineas and promises, then hands her to his brother.
- RobinThe honest younger brother who offers Moll marriage openly and loves her sincerely, whatever his family says.
- The governessA midwife and dealer in stolen goods who shelters Moll, teaches her the thieves' trade and shares in her gains.
- JemmyThe charming Lancashire gentleman who marries Moll believing she is rich, and who also hides his own lack of fortune.
- The bank clerkAn honest, steady man who offers Moll protection and marriage once he is free of a faithless wife.
- The good ministerA kind clergyman who visits Moll in prison and urges her toward real repentance.
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The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders
by Daniel Defoe · 1722
Moll Flanders wants to be a gentlewoman, and her road runs through marriages, a thief's trade and Newgate.
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“Poverty had brought me into this life, and fear of poverty kept me in it.”
In short
What would you do if you were left behind at six months old, with your mother transported to the colonies? In 1722 Daniel Defoe published his answer, a life story told by a woman who asks us to call her Moll Flanders.
The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders at a glance
- Reading time
- About 8 h 45 min6 h 55 min fast, 10 h 25 min slow
- Length
- 125,100 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1722by Daniel Defoe
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A child of Newgate dreams of independence
Moll is born in Newgate prison, where her mother is held for stealing cloth. The mother is sent to the colonies and leaves the baby behind. Moll hides her real name, so she asks the reader to use Moll Flanders, a name she picks up later among thieves.
She is left in Colchester, where a poor woman who keeps a little school takes her in. Moll learns reading, sewing and religion. At eight she hears that the magistrates mean to send her into service. The idea terrifies her, and she cries all day.
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- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1722
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 10 h 0 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Defoe, Daniel. The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-fortunes-and-misfortunes-of-the-famous-moll-flanders.
Defoe, D. (2026). The fortunes and misfortunes of the famous Moll Flanders. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-fortunes-and-misfortunes-of-the-famous-moll-flanders (Original work published 1722)
Defoe, Daniel. The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-fortunes-and-misfortunes-of-the-famous-moll-flanders.
@book{defoe2026fortunes,
author = {Defoe, Daniel},
title = {The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-fortunes-and-misfortunes-of-the-famous-moll-flanders},
note = {First published 1722}
}
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What is Moll Flanders about?
It follows Moll from her birth in Newgate prison through many marriages, love affairs and a long career as a thief. She tells it herself, with attention to money, danger and her own shifting conscience.
Is Moll Flanders a true story?
Defoe published it in 1722 as the private history of a real woman, but it is a work of fiction. He wrote it with such realistic detail, names and sums that it reads like a genuine memoir.
Why is she called Moll Flanders?
It is a nickname given to her by thieves, and Moll says it has no connection to her real name. She never learns why they chose it, and she keeps her true name hidden.
The author
Daniel Defoe
1660–1731 · English novelist and journalist
Daniel Defoe was an English trader, writer, and journalist. He was born in London in 1660 and died there in 1731. He wrote Robinson Crusoe and The Further Adventures of Robinson Crusoe in 1719. Moll Flanders, A Journal of the Plague Year, and Colonel Jack appeared in 1722.
“Poverty had brought me into this life, and fear of poverty kept me in it.”
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