George Eliot wrote: “It is never too late to be who you might have been.” As I read these words, I struggled to find another that fits them as well as Moll Flanders. Despite the circumstances, luck and obstacles that stood against her at every moment, this woman refused to submit to the preconceived ideas that normally govern the oppressed and the dispossessed. And it is in this tenacity of spirit that I find that Eliot's words ring true. Moll Flanders, born into a world of padlocked doors and dark, ominous corners, was destined for greatness simply because she lived it. The story begins as a story told to an orphan rescued and claimed by Hibble, a mysterious, dark and wise man. The orphan, Flora, has been picked up by Hibble and is traveling to America to face a destiny she doesn't understand. On the way, Hibble was instructed to read to him the diary of his mother, Moll Flanders. It's an introduction to a woman whose soul doesn't shine through well on the written page, but Hibble fights, trying to lure the girl with the memory of an extraordinary friend and confidante. Threats and conferences begin a journey that soon intrigues the young woman on its own merit. Her mother, it seemed, was much more than she could ever have imagined. And it is in these pages that we find our own hero. Moll Flanders, born to a convicted thief, was orphaned the day she was born while the state was carrying out her mother's death sentence. Moll lands at the foot of the Church, learning to read, to pray and, above all, to reject hypocrisy and the groping hand of the priest. Leaving the Church in an unorthodox manner, Moll bounced from house to house, finding herself too much for some and too little to repel others. Along the way, she learned to laugh and limp at the kindness and cruelty that abound in our worlds. It was in kindness that Moll found herself in love with an unlikely artist and it was in this union that Flora was conceived..