First published anonymously in 1759 (imprint 1760), this remarkable novel was written to promote the cause of the Magdalen House, a charity which sought to rehabilitate prostitutes by fitting them for a life of virtuous industry. More than a mere fundraiser, however, the novel challenges long-standing prejudices against prostitutes by presenting them as victims of inadequate education, male libertinism and sexual double standards. As such it revises earlier literary and visual representations of the lusty whore, and looks forward to the feminist polemics of Mary Wollstonecraft and Mary Hays.
