But when we look at that quote again, we can see it isn’t as damning as it appears on the surface. Queer men of this type were colloquially known as “mollies,” the same term used to describe female prostitutes, implying the two were intrinsically linked in the public consciousness. Of course, that a keeper of a female brothel would be resentful of men stealing her clientele isn’t exactly surprising. …she could not name an exception hardly of one of them, whose character was not in all other respects the most worthless and despicable that could be, stript of all the manly virtues of their own sex, and fill’d up with only the very worst vices and follies of our own… Fanny’s bawd (madam) describes effeminate, working class sodomites who assume female dress and pronouns, in vicious terms: Queer men are directly addressed in Fanny Hill, and not kindly. Fanny describes, not herself, but her lovers - in lavish and loving terms. Although long considered a text designed for the titillation of men attracted to women, what we actually read is the account of a woman attracted to men. It has only been legally available in America since 1966, and the UK since 1970.īeyond that, and more obviously, Fanny Hill is told in first person. Not only is it considered the first prose pornography written in English, and the first pornography produced in novel form, it’s one of the most banned books in history, and the subject of a number of historically significant obscenity trials. Looking beyond the surface, however, Fanny Hill is a fascinating text for a number of reasons. Not, one would think, a novel particularly relevant to queer history. She ends the novel a respectable lady, her wanton past behind her (although her marriage all the happier for her experience!).
Written by John Cleland, Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure, better known as Fanny Hill, is the first-person account of the eponymous character’s journey from her arrival in London as an orphaned innocent, through her employment at a brothel, her introduction to sex at the hands of another female prostitute, her first experience with a man, her subsequent life as a prostitute, and her eventual reunion with the young nobleman who took her virginity, whom she marries and saves from financial ruin and disgrace with the money she’s earned. All in all however, the book was pretty ok at best but not exception.We’re going back a little in time from the Labouchere Amendment, to 1748 and the perhaps surprising choice of an erotic novel told through the eyes of a female prostitute.įemale prostitution and homosexuality have long been linked in British law (Labouchere’s Amendment was to an Act concerned with the former, after all, and the Wolfenden Committee was convened in the 1950s to look at both issues). The character of course matured in the book but the narration did nothing, in my opinion, to enhance the overall quality of the experience. The narrator sounds like an old woman rather than a young, naive girl. The narration was in effect underwhelming at best, could most definitely be much better than it was. that being said though the descriptions are impressive to say the least. As stated, the book to me is very predictable.
#Fanny hill series#
To use the term very loosely, this was a coming of age book, a young girl who (due to tragedy and a series of unfortunate situations) is forced to get herself involved into a very 'controversial' lifestyle and the way she maneuvers her way through it. It was somewhat predictable in most places and you could definitely see where the book itself would end up. The actual content of the story itself was very blasé if you ask me. It was a very graphic audiobook with very vivid descriptions to say the least. I honestly must say I didn't know what exactly I was getting myself into when a friend of mine suggested I the book to me. this book contains A LOT of very MATURE content that I would NOT suggest to ANYONE under the age of 18.
No wonder this book was banned in Britain.įirst of all.