Fanny Hill, also known as Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure, is an erotic novel by John Cleland, first published in London in 1748–1749. Written while Cleland was imprisoned for debt, the novel takes the form of two letters in which Fanny recounts her life story. Orphaned and penniless, she arrives in London and gradually enters the world of prostitution before ultimately finding true love and respectable marriage. As the first pornographic novel in English prose, it was banned for obscenity for over two centuries and became the subject of landmark censorship trials. Despite its notoriety, the work is praised for its vivid narrative style and rich portrayal of eighteenth-century London society.
