Fanny Hill: Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure
- ISBN-10
- 1976312418
- ISBN-13
- 9781976312410
- Pages
- 130
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2017-09-12
- Publisher
- Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
- Authors
- John Cleland, In Charge of the Dynamic Data Base John Cleland
Description
One of the most prosecuted and banned books in history..... Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure is an erotic novel by English novelist John Cleland first published in London in 1748. Written while the author was in debtors' prison in London, it is considered "the first original English prose pornography, and the first pornography to use the form of the novel." Frances "Fanny" Hill is a rich Englishwoman in her middle age, who leads a life of contentment with her loving husband Charles and their children. The novel consists of two long letters (which appear as volumes I and II of the original edition) addressed by Fanny to an unnamed acquaintance, who is only identified as 'Madam.' Fanny has been prevailed upon by the 'Madam' to recount the 'scandalous stages' of her earlier life, which she proceeds to do with 'stark naked truth' as her governing principle. Fanny's account begins with the loss of her parents at the age of fourteen followed by a journey to London, and ends with her eventual union with Charles about five years later. The intermediate narrative is filled with an immense variety of sexual experiences, which are described with a clinical degree of vividness, whimsy, wit and humour. A rich store of imaginative metaphors and outlandish similies is brought to bear upon the sexual organs and actions of several participants, both male and female, in their various states of arousal and exertion (cf. the 'Excerpts' below). The plot has been described as 'operatic' by John Hollander, who opines that "the book's language and its protagonist's character are its greatest virtues."
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Other editions
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- 2017-07-29
- 150 pages
- Ebook
- Oregan Publishing