HarperCollins UK (November 2009); ISBN-10: 0007300417
Fanny Hill is a blushing country maiden until tragic circumstances force her to seek a new life in London. She is taken in by the motherly Mrs. Brown, but on her first night she receives a rather unorthodox welcome from one of the young ladies in the house—and swiftly gains a much more explicit idea of what is expected in her new role. Fanny takes to carnal pleasures with gusto, and she vividly recalls each lusty encounter and every thrusting conquest, in her saucy, voyeuristic, and thoroughly irresistible memoirs. Scandalizing thousands of Victorians with its vivid descriptions of sexual pleasure, this book landed its author in court a year after publication on charges of “corrupting the King’s subjects.” This only heightened its allure—and today it is still hugely appreciated as a work of true erotic and literary merit.
About the Author: John Cleland wrote Fanny Hill, also known as Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure, in two installments while serving time in prison for debt. In 1749, he was arrested for obscenity, yet denied responsibility for the novel. The book was not officially published again for 100 years. However, it continued to sell well and was published in pirate editions.
