Fanny Hill: Memoirs of a Voluptuous Woman

John Cleland wrote his novel while in Fleet Prison for debtors, where he spent more than a year for a debt of £840 (approximately one hundred thousand pounds today). The book was utterly shocking for its time. It tells the story of a London courtesan in the first person, focusing on explicit descriptions of human sexual intercourse and certain sexual perversions, yet it never crosses an acceptable line. On the contrary, it demonstrates significant literary quality for its era and portrays the morals of London society at the time, including the double lives of respected politicians, diplomats, state officials, and wealthy merchants. In this work, Cleland also expresses the view that human happiness lies in physical love.