Amatory fiction is a type of British literature that became popular from about 1660 to 1730. It was shared among small groups of people and published with the goal of staying true to the writer's ideas without outside criticism. This genre came before the invention of the novel and is considered an early form of the romance novel. Many themes found in today's romance novels were first explored in amatory fiction. Most of these works were short stories, and women were the main writers. While they were mostly read by women, men likely read them as well. As its name suggests, amatory fiction focuses on themes of love and romance.

Three important writers of amatory fiction were Eliza Haywood, Delarivier Manley, and Aphra Behn. Eliza Haywood wrote works such as Love in Excess; or, The Fatal Enquiry and Fantomina; or, Love in a Maze, along with over 70 other published stories. Delarivier Manley authored The Lost Lover and Almyna: or, The Arabian Vow. A Tragedy. Aphra Behn wrote The History of the Nun and To the Fair Clarinda, Who Made Love to Me, Imagined More than Woman, as well as her popular work The Disappointment, a story about a sexual encounter written from a woman’s perspective, which may involve the topic of male impotence. These three writers were called "the fair triumvirate of wit" by Rev. James Sterling. However, because of their writing style, some people referred to them as the "naughty triumvirate."

Themes of amatory fiction

Amatory fiction is a type of story that changes the usual roles of men and women found in traditional stories. In these stories, a woman is often shown as being tricked by a man who acts selfishly and desires her. Amatory fiction flips this by showing women taking control, such as in the story Fantomina by Eliza Haywood. In this story, the main character is a woman from a wealthy family who changes her appearance to seduce a man named Beauplaisir multiple times. In amatory fiction, love often ends with sadness or pain for the women involved.

Authors of amatory fiction used their stories to comment on how women were treated in society. They sometimes used sarcasm to express their views without angering male critics. A common technique was called "swerve," where writers would mock the idea that women were less important than men. These stories often included tales of relationships outside of marriage and focused on themes like scandal and sexual freedom.

At first glance, amatory fiction seems to focus on love and romance. However, it also has a hidden goal: to show women as individuals who want to satisfy their own desires, not just please men. For example, female characters in these stories might seek more from their friendships or demand personal happiness in their relationships. At first, this was seen as overly emotional or romantic. Later, people recognized this as a way for women to challenge the control men had over them. Some scholars connect amatory fiction to the Bildungsroman, a story type that shows a woman’s growth and highlights her ability to gain power even in a society that limited women’s choices.

Although amatory fiction was not included in early stories about how novels developed, modern scholars now see these works as full novels in their own right. These stories were rare places where women could express their feelings of being treated unfairly and share their experiences. Some amatory fiction stories were judged as immoral because they showed characters having scandalous relationships without facing consequences based on religious, social, or legal rules.