John Cleland wrote the 18th-century sexual romance Memoirs of Fanny Hill. The story centers on Fanny Hill, a young person from a low-income household who moves to London in quest of employment. She starts a life as a prostitute there after being lured by Charles. The letters Fanny sends to an unidentified friend, documenting her intercourse with several customers, serve as the basis for her account. She soon earns the title of mistress of Mr. H, a rich man, but her joy is fleeting.
Memoirs of Fanny Hill continues to be a key work in the history of erotic writing and a turning point in the representation of female sexuality in literature despite the controversy.