In which a young woman finds herself entangled in the romantic advances of two brothers, each declaring their love and making various overtures, while she navigates the complexities of pride, vanity, and the expectations of society. The delicate dance of affection, secrecy, and familial suspicion unfolds with tender moments and cautious encounters, revealing the hazards that attend a young woman's awakening to her own charms.

In which the early years of a young girl named Moll Flanders are recounted, revealing her humble and uncertain beginnings, her tender hopes to avoid the drudgery of servants’ work, and her innocent ambition to become a “gentlewoman” by her own honest labour. We see her nurtured by a kind nurse and favoured by gentlefolk who aid her education, while she gains the admiration of those around her, setting the stage for a life marked both by genteel appearance and the complexities of human character.

In which a concealed narrator presents a private history newly dressed in modest language, urging the reader to weigh its truth and moral purpose rather than its outward scandal. The preface frames the tale as a sober account intended to instruct the discerning, promising reflections on vice, repentance, and human frailty without revealing the full course of events.