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[12]           The book that gave Mary hope of safely publishing her own story is Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure (Fanny Hill) – Written by John Cleland in 1748.

    The story of an innocent 15 years old country girl who’s forced into prostitution when she arrives in London, this novel was banned for obscenity as recently as 1963, when it was still forbidden in the USA!

(If you'd like to read this masterpiece, click HERE.)

    In 1748, when Mary Burton-Gulliver wrote this letter, John Cleland was not – yet - prosecuted for his novel. But just one year later he was arrested, along with his publisher, and forced to renounce the book.

 

    This didn’t stop the book from being secretly printed, circulated and widely read (till today), but the fear of arrest and persecution has probably prevented Mary from publishing her own manuscript.

    I imagine that the news of Cleland’s arrest came to Mary as a shock, and she probably then decided to keep her manuscript in hiding.

Luckily,  Mary Gulliver is still with us.
Send her an encouraging word, if you please:
Édouard-Henri Avril

What readers say?

Xaviera Hollander

("The Happy Hooker" and dozen more books):

We've been friends  for almost half a century and enjoyed several of each others' theatrical productions, so reading your memoir of Mrs. Gulliver is a wonderful surprise: so witty, subversive, and yet, arousing... it tickled my mind as well as inspired my G-spot. Highly recommended!

© Copyrights Erga Netz. For permissions, see Contact

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