I finished Moll Flanders. It is the strangest book I've ever read. After countless lovers, a life as a professional and notorious thief, jail time (incidently, being writtin in the 17th century, they called inmates "penitentary birds" -- ever wonder how old that phrase is? There you go), a death sentence, and deportation to Virginia -- she meets up with one of her husbands (she had at least 3 living, one of whom they discovered to be her brother) in jail. After bribing the captain to set them free upon reaching America, they become plantation owners, repent completely, and live out the rest of their days in peace and prosperity. Very interesting. She makes a big point in prison that she was not repentant for what she had done, merely sorry that she was being punished. Only afterwards did she turn around, repent, and proceed to live the rest of her life on her ill-gotten goods. Hmmmmmm. I broke my cardinal rule and read the book AFTER I had seen the movie. The movie was good, but had (as usual) absolutely nothing to do with the original story. I may have to read the book again to decide if its worth keeping or not. It is the absolute antitheses of Tess of the Dubervilles.