Moll tells her crazy story: her birth in Newgate prison, London street life, adventures in nearby towns, multiple marriages, the American colonies... late 17th century. Defoe's writing is what some have called "plain style," as disguished from the scholastic writing, pretentious verbage, or flowery prose of the century after Shakespeare; in fact, other than a little vocabulary and usage not familiar to us, it's a very comfortable early 21st century read. I got an old copy accidentally, and glad I finally read it; this is my favorite of Defoe's work, so far. A fun story, well told, and I recommend it!
