Roxana, Or The Fortunate Mistress (Penguin Classics) - Softcover

Daniel Defoe

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0140431497 ISBN 13: 9780140431490

Publisher: Penguin, 1982

Synopsis

Beautiful, proud Roxana is terrified of being poor. When her foolish husband leaves her penniless with five children, she must choose between being a virtuous beggar or a rich whore. A vivid satire on a dissolute society, this book presents a psychologically acute evocation of the ways in which vanity and ambition can corrupt the human soul.

About this title

Review:

Roxana is possible Defoe's most fascinating story-teller and this, one of his most intriguing stories. (The Daily Telegraph)

About the Author:

A prolific and versatile writer, Daniel Defoe (1660-1731) produced some 500 books on a wide variety of topics, including politics, geography, crime, religion, economics, marriage, psychology and superstition. He delighted in role-playing and disguise, a skill he used to great effect as a secret agent, and in his writing he often adopted a pseudonym or another personality for rhetorical impact. He turned to fiction relatively late in life and in 1719 published his great imaginative work, Robinson Crusoe. This was followed in 1722 by Moll Flanders and A Journal of the Plague Year, and in 1724 by his last novel, Roxana. Defoe had a great influence on the development of the English novel and many consider him to be the first true novelist.

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin
• Publication date: 1982
• ISBN 10: 0140431497
• ISBN 13: 9780140431490
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 416
• Editor: David Blewett