Published in 2000, it is her third novel and is loosely based on the account of 16-year-old Mary Saunders who was hanged for murdering her mistress, Joan Jones, in Monmouth, Wales, in 1764.

In fear for her life, Mary buys a modest dress and boards a coach for her mother's hometown of Monmouth, Wales.

Lacking sufficient funds for the entire fare, Mary plays the part of a scared girl and maneuvers Joe Cadwaladyr into sleeping with her.

She is able to maintain anonymity by prostituting under the name Sukie, but Mr. Jones happens to see her waiting on a customer and, in a panic, she entices him with sex.

Michelle Kaske of Booklist found that the novel, based on true historical crimes, worked tension and moments of charm into its squalid subject matter, and showed "intricate relationships between women of limited power".

She concluded, "What is most amazing is Donoghue's capacity for tackling weighty issues (prostitution, crime, and slavery) while avoiding didacticism.

"[12] Natasha Tripney of The Guardian wrote, "The novel is structured in such a way that it exerts a considerable grip, the tension slowly, painfully building".

[13] Laura Jamison of The New York Times Book Review described Slammerkin as a "heady, colorful romp of a novel" which is "almost impossible to resist".

While Jamison felt that it failed in its great theme that "everyone [...] prostituted themselves one way or another", she found it to be accessible to modern readers with lively fictions completing the gaps in the recorded life of Mary Saunders.

She concluded that, "Donoghue's characterizations are excellent, and her brutal imagery and attention to language capture the spirit of the time with vital precision.