Moll Flanders

If ever a novel were to perfectly mimic a modern soap opera, it would be Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe, which he published in 1722. The protagonist, Moll, experiences all of the hardships of life extremely early on, starting from the moment she's born. Her mother, a convicted felon, is sent to America while Moll is left in the care of a widow who instructs her on everything she needs to know about being a woman of her time. When Moll becomes a teenager, she takes a job as a house servant, wherein the two boys of the house both become enamored with her. Though she's first wooed by the eldest, he then convinces her that she should marry his younger brother, which she does. After a few years, however, Moll's husband passes away, and this begins her string of marriages that leave her feeling empty and - in some cases - in trouble.

Moll hones her ability to convince men that she's a wealthy widow, although throughout the course of the novel her finances take many a dip, especially after she moves to America like her mother. While there, she continuously tries to evade the law and the harsh sentences that come with some of her money-related crimes and later decides to move back to England after getting her hands on the inheritance money that her mother left her.