Memoirs of Fanny Hill

Memoirs of Fanny Hill by John Cleland

Fanny Hill: Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure details the sexual adventures of a teenage girl in London. An orphan at fifteen, Frances Hill, with little skill and education, must find a way to survive. She leaves her village for London and finds employment at Mrs. Brown's brothel. Fanny thinks her new job is legitimate, but her curiosity and sensuality are awakened when the prostitute she shares a room with introduces her to sex. Ms. Brown then tricks Fanny into "serving" a customer, and the girl is nearly raped. She escapes from the brothel and falls in love with a man named Charles, whom her father sends to sea before he can support Fanny. Once again helpless and alone, Fanny finds work in an upper-class brothel, where she experiences a multitude of sexual acts and discovers that sex for money is not as satisfying as sex for love. Fanny is taken from the brothel by an older man who cares for her, instructs her in the arts and sciences, and after eight months, dies, leaving her his fortune. Shortly after the death of her benefactor, Fanny is reunited with Charles and the two live happily ever after.

In 1821, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts tried to ban Fanny Hill, claiming it was obscene. Previously considered obscene in England in 1761, the book did not receive wide acceptance or distribution in the newly formed United States. However, since it was popular in "underground" circles, a publisher named Peter Holmes saw an opportunity to profit from its printing and sale. During the trial, the prosecutor based her arguments solely on the sexual content of the book, ...