Who wrote Fanny Hill?

John Cleland wrote Fanny Hill, first published in 1748. It is a work of classics and is rated 'Essential Read' in our catalogue.

Is there a book club guide for Fanny Hill?

Yes — Book Verdict has a free reading guide for Fanny Hill with key themes and five original discussion questions at https://247bookverdict.com/reading-guides/john-cleland-fanny-hill/.

Essential Read

Fanny Hill

Name: Fanny Hill
Author: John Cleland

by John Cleland · 1748

Classics · ranked #79 in category

Reviewed by the Book Verdict editorial team

Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure — known as Fanny Hill — follows an orphaned country girl who arrives in London, falls into a brothel, and narrates her subsequent sexual and social education with remarkable candour. The first English-language prose pornography, it is also a novel about class, economics and female survival; it was prosecuted for obscenity on publication and its author briefly imprisoned.

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The verdict

Category: Classics
First published: 1748 · 1740s
Author: John Cleland
Standing: Essential Read

About Classics

The classics earned their place by surviving. These are the books that generations of readers have returned to because they remain useful — illuminating, moving and asking questions without easy answers.