Stupendously real and poignant, this novel narrates the story of a young girl driven to extremes by sheer poverty and loneliness. The vibrant character portrayal and use of slang take the reader back in time to 19th-century New York slums. We see the cultural and social milieu of that era through Maggieâe(tm)s eyes; the depiction being so real that one can not remain indifferent to it. Spell-binding!