A “rollicking and bawdy” tale of eighteenth-century England, inspired by Fanny Hill, from the New York Times–bestselling author of Fear of Flying (The Plain Dealer).
Galloping from England to Africa to the high seas of the Caribbean, bestselling author Erica Jong’s “perverse epic” follows the amorous adventures of a woman of pleasure and pluck (The New York Times). Falling in with randy highwaymen, witches, kidnappers, pirate queens, prostitutes, and such luminaries as Jonathan Swift, William Hogarth, and Alexander Pope, Fanny is seeking much more than fortune. In this unexpurgated “memoir” by the girl made famous in John Cleland’s notorious Fanny Hill, our dauntless heroine finally reveals what really made her.
Life begins somewhat ignobly for Fanny Hackabout-Jones. Abandoned as an infant on the doorstep of Lord and Lady Bellars’s grand Wiltshire manor, she contemplates the literary life as she grows to ripe young womanhood. Fanny chooses, however, to pursue a very different future when she flees to London to escape the mortifying advances of her adoptive father. There, on the road, her life truly begins. Cast by pernicious Fate—and her own audacious will—into a series of astonishing escapades, Fanny learns that a woman’s lot is not an easy one in these oppressive times. But she will not be discouraged, nor will she falter, on the uneven path toward notoriety, self-discovery, motherhood, and love. This is a delightful twist on classic literature—and “Erica Jong was the right person to write it” (Anthony Burgess, Saturday Review).
This ebook features an illustrated biography of Erica Jong including rare photos and never-before-seen documents from the author’s personal collection.
