Misplaced Pages

#50949

93-657: He wrote popular romances and Gothic fiction as W. E. D. Ross and Dan Ross , and under a variety of mostly female pseudonyms, such as Jane Rossiter , Leslie Ames , Ellen Randolph , Ann Gilmer , Rose Williams , Rose Dana , Clarissa Ross , Marilyn Ross , Jan Daniels , Charlotte McCormack , Ruth Dorset , Miriam Leslie , Dana Ross , Laura Frances Brooks , Lydia Colby , Diana Randall , Diana Ross , and Marilyn Carter . He started writing erotic novels as Olin Ross , and Western novels as Dan Roberts and Tex Steele. As Marilyn Ross , he wrote popular Gothic fiction , including

186-566: A series of novels about the vampire Barnabas Collins based on the American TV series Dark Shadows (1966–71). William Edward Daniel Ross was born on November 16, 1912, in Saint John , New Brunswick , Canada , the son of Laura (née Brooks) and William Edward Ross. In 1934, he moved to the United States to study. He married Charlotte McCormack in 1944, and worked for years as an actor, as

279-408: A "decency code", and rejected more sexually explicit material that Mills and Boon submitted for reprinting. Realizing that the genre was popular, Richard Bonneycastle finally decided to read a romance novel. He chose one of the more explicit novels and enjoyed it. On his orders, the company conducted a market test with the novel he had read and discovered that it outsold a similar, tamer novel. Overall,

372-491: A "grandness of contradiction distinct from other romance formulas, particularly earlier ones". In another departure from romances of the time, The Flame and the Flower took the reader on journey to multiple locales, some exotic for their time. The travel was routine for the hero, but allowed the heroine to have a grand adventure. Like most paperback publishers, Avon chose one book each month to receive extensive advertising and

465-464: A 90–100% sellout rate each month. A 1982 survey of romance readers confirmed that the new styles of writing were attracting new readers to the genre. 35% of the readers surveyed had begun reading romances after 1977. An additional 31% of those surveyed had been readers for between 6 and 10 years, meaning they had become interested in the genre after 1972, when Woodiwiss' revolutionary novel was published. This means that two-thirds of those surveyed joined

558-410: A book of letter templates. Richardson accepted the request, but only if the letters had a moral purpose. As Richardson was writing the series of letters turned into a story. Writing in a new form, the novel, Richardson attempted to both instruct and entertain. Richardson wrote Pamela as a conduct book , a sort of manual which codified social and domestic behavior of men, women, and servants, as well as

651-422: A conventional plot pattern and were set in contemporary times were known as category romances. These were distributed to drugstores and other mass-market outlets and were generally available for only one month before being pulled from the shelves. Longer novels, set in either contemporary or historical times, were published in hardback. Woodiwiss's finished work, The Flame and the Flower , was 600 pages long. It

744-424: A couple who fights for and believes in their relationship will likely be rewarded with unconditional love. Bestselling author Nora Roberts sums up the genre, saying: "The books are about the celebration of falling in love and emotion and commitment, and all of those things we really want." Women's fiction (including " chick lit ") is not directly a subcategory of the romance novel genre, because in women's fiction

837-473: A dress shop. He threatens to tell the authorities that Heather murdered William. One of Brandon's sailors named Dickie also informs Louisa that Brandon had discovered Heather on the streets. Louisa believes that Heather was a prostitute, and confronts Brandon. She promises to forgive him for his dalliance if he will send Heather back to London and allow her to take Heather's place as wife and mother of Beau. Brandon threatens Louisa and sends her away. When she

930-436: A fourth time but is interrupted when his crewman calls him away on business. When Brandon leaves the ship, Heather manages to escape his ship and flees back home. The rapes left Heather pregnant, and she reveals what happened to her aunt and uncle. Brandon is tracked down and a magistrate forces him and Heather to marry. Neither is pleased with their new situation. Over the next few months, as they prepare for and undertake

1023-474: A healthy son, Beau. Several months later, Heather and Brandon resolve their differences, profess their love to each other, and share a bed for the first time as husband and wife. The following morning, Sybil Scott is found murdered. Although Brandon is accused of the crime, Heather is able to provide him an alibi. Soon after, Heather is blackmailed by Thomas Hint, the former assistant to William Court. Thomas also left England and came to Charleston where he opened

SECTION 10

#1732876798051

1116-406: A larger than normal print run. In 1970, Avon had broken with tradition by selecting Burt Hirschfield 's Fire Island , which had not previously been published in hardback, as a featured title. After reading The Flame and the Flower , Coffey believed that it, like Fire Island , could be a successful original feature. With its April 1972 publication as an "Avon Spectacular" book, the novel became

1209-561: A love story between a beautiful and talented maiden and a handsome young scholar. Some examples of these novels include Ping Shan Leng Yan , Haoqiu zhuan , Iu-Kiao-Li , Huatu yuan , Qiao Lian Zhu , Wu Mei Yuan , Bai Gui Zhi , Jin Yun Qiao , Ting Yue Lou , Wu Jiang Xue , Lin er bao , Ying Yun meng , Tiehua xianshi , Shuishi yuan , Jinxiang ting , Erdu mei quanzhuan , Dingqing ren , Qingmeng tuo and Zhuchun yuan . They feature themes influenced by

1302-480: A more sensitive man. Despite the broadening of some aspects of the plot, other taboos remained, and publishers discouraged authors from writing about controversial subjects such as terrorism, warfare, and masculine sports. Romance novels began to contain more humor beginning in the 1990s, as Julie Garwood began introducing a great deal of humor into her historical romances. The romance novel began to expand in other ways as well. In 1989, author Jude Deveraux became

1395-492: A narrative in order to provide a more morally concerned literature option for young audiences. This conduct book genre has a long history. The Romance novelist, Maria Edgeworth , influenced Victorian era motifs and authors with many of her works including Belinda (1801) and Helen (1834). An admirer of Edgeworth, Jane Austen, further influenced the Romance genre and Victorian era with her novel Pride and Prejudice (1813), which

1488-545: A new style of writing romance, concentrating primarily on historical fiction tracking the monogamous relationship between a helpless heroine and the hero who rescued her, even if he had been the one to place her in danger. The covers of these novels tended to feature scantily clad women being grabbed by the hero, and caused the novels to be referred to as " bodice rippers". Cover arts of this style are referred to as clinch covers . A Wall Street Journal article in 1980 referred to these bodice rippers as "publishing's answer to

1581-428: A novel, but each time stopped in frustration at the slow pace of writing a novel longhand. After buying her husband an electric typewriter for a Christmas present, Woodiwiss appropriated the machine to begin her novel in earnest. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, as the feminist movement gained visibility in the United States, female sexuality became more open. The United States Supreme Court effectively gutted

1674-475: A single U.S. print run, remaining on a bookseller's shelves until they are sold out or until the next month's titles are released and take their place. Writers for the largest publisher of category romance, Harlequin/Mills & Boon , can find their novels translated into 26 languages and sold in over 100 international markets. The Flame and the Flower The Flame and the Flower (published 1972)

1767-550: A voyage to Brandon's home in Charleston, South Carolina , their feelings for each other begin to soften. Once in the United States, Heather is plagued by Louisa Wells, Brandon's jealous former betrothed, who attempts to drive a wedge between the couple. Other jealous girls, including Sybil Scott, also try to cause problems between Heather and Brandon. Heather and Brandon continue to misunderstand each other's motives, leading to much tension between them. Heather eventually gives birth to

1860-514: Is found dead the following morning, Brandon is arrested. Heather confronts Thomas, who confesses to killing both women, and also William Court, and then tries to rape her. She is saved by Brandon, who had been released from jail. During the ensuing confrontation, Brandon is shot in the arm. Thomas escapes, but the skittish horse he chose bucks him to the ground. A tree limb collapsed on him, killing him instantly. The charges against Brandon are dropped, and he and Heather live happily ever after. At

1953-599: Is not Romance Fiction. However, both scholarly analysis and the conversations between Gabaldon and her publisher about whether to market the books as romances, reveal that the discourse about genre labels is more nuanced. In 2022, it was announced that the best-selling "cult" Winston Brother series by self-published "smart-romance" author, Penny Reid , has been optioned for a television adaptation by Tomorrow Studios. Romance novels are divided into two sub-sets, category romances, also known as series romances, and single title romances. Many authors write only within one of

SECTION 20

#1732876798051

2046-465: Is still in print as of 2020. The cover, designed by Avon Art Director Barbara Bertoli, set a standard for sensual historical romance covers. The clinch cover was an example of what was called "the Avon look" with a large solid color background, large type, and a small vignette. One early version of the cover included a vignette by veteran illustrator Robert McGinnis . To reflect the more sensual content of

2139-519: Is the debut work of romance novelist Kathleen E. Woodiwiss . The first modern "bodice ripper" romance novel, the book revolutionized the historical romance genre. It was also the first full-length romance novel to be published first in paperback rather than hardback. As a child, Kathleen E. Woodiwiss relished creating her own stories, and by age six was telling herself stories at night to help fall asleep. After she married, Woodiwiss continued to think of plots. Several times she attempted to write

2232-465: The Big Mac : They are juicy, cheap, predictable, and devoured in stupefying quantities by legions of loyal fans." The term bodice ripper is now considered offensive to many in the romance industry. In this new style of historical romance, heroines were independent and strong-willed and were often paired with heroes who evolved into caring and compassionate men who truly admired the women they loved. This

2325-461: The Romance Writers of America , the main plot of a mass-market romance novel must revolve about the two people as they develop romantic love for each other and work to build a relationship. Both the conflict and the climax of the novel should be directly related to that core theme of developing a romantic relationship, although the novel can also contain subplots that do not specifically relate to

2418-607: The 1950s, the company began offering the books for sale through newsagents across the United Kingdom. A Canadian company, Harlequin Enterprises , began distributing in North America in 1957 the category romances published by Mills & Boon. Mary Bonneycastle, wife of Harlequin founder Richard Bonneycastle, and her daughter, Judy Burgess, exercised editorial control over which Mills & Boon novels Harlequin reprinted. They had

2511-586: The 1974 publication of Woodiwiss' second novel, The Wolf and the Dove and two more sexually graphic novels by newcomer Rosemary Rogers , Sweet Savage Love and Dark Fires . The latter sold two million copies in its first three months of release. By 1975, Publishers Weekly had reported that the "Avon originals" had sold a combined 8 million copies . The following year over 150 historical romance novels, many of them paperback originals, were published, selling over 40 million copies . The success of these novels prompted

2604-432: The 1980s, many plot lines that were once thought to be taboo by the romance publishing industry have become much more accepted into the mainstream of romance fiction. For example, in the 20th century it was rare to find a book with a hero who was in the military or professional sports. In the 21st century, however, such characters are relatively common and even have their own sub-genres within the romance category. By 2000,

2697-529: The Nobel laureate Gabriel García Márquez received critical praise for his romance novel Love in the Time of Cholera . Arthur Schopenhauer held that, if poets and novelists across continents have not stopped producing romance novels since millennia, it is because no other topic is more relevant and so the theme never gets old. According to Schopenhauer, romance/love is more important than other topics because it affects

2790-727: The book industry characterize books dealing with same-sex relationships as F/F, and M/M. Many famous literary fiction romance novels end tragically. Examples include: Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë , Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy , The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough , Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami , Atonement by Ian McEwan , and The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller . The genre of works of extended prose fiction dealing with romantic love existed in classical Greece. The titles of over twenty such ancient Greek romance novels are known, but most of them have only survived in an incomplete, fragmentary form. Only five ancient Greek romance novels have survived to

2883-491: The books. An early American example of a mass-market romance was Kathleen E. Woodiwiss ' The Flame and the Flower (1972), published by Avon Books . This was the first single-title romance novel to be published as an original paperback in the US. Nancy Coffey was the senior editor who negotiated a multi-book deal with Woodiwiss. In the UK, the romance genre was long established through

W. E. D. Ross - Misplaced Pages Continue

2976-524: The books. The romance genre has sometimes generated criticism. Some critics point to a lack of suspense, as it may seem obvious that the hero and heroine will eventually resolve their issues, and wonder whether it is beneficial "for women to be whiling away so many hours reading impossibly glamorized love stories." According to fiction author Melissa Pritchard , a romance novel "perpetuates something slightly dangerous, that there's this notion, that there's this perfect love out there, and it can distract you from

3069-420: The captain of the ship, Brandon Birmingham, rapes Heather. When he does so, he ruptures her hymen and realizes she was a virgin and, therefore, probably not a prostitute. Heather cries herself to sleep and a confused Brandon sleeps next to her. The next morning Heather wakes up and Brandon, awakened by her movement, rapes her a second time. Afterwards, when Brandon asks her why she would sell her virginity on

3162-483: The company almost 10% of the market for paperback books. That year the company began distributing its own books in the United States instead of through Simon & Schuster 's Pocket Books . In 1980 Simon & Schuster formed Silhouette Books to publish its own romance novels, beginning what The New York Times called "perhaps the most bitter war in American book publishing history." The company sought to take advantage of

3255-498: The context of rape. In this novel and those that followed, the rape was depicted as more of a fantasy; the heroine is rarely if ever shown experiencing terror, stress, or trauma as a result. The popular, mass market version of the historical romance, which Walter Scott developed in the early 19th century, is seen as beginning in 1921, when Georgette Heyer published The Black Moth . This is set in 1751, but many of Heyer's novels were inspired by Jane Austen's novels and are set around

3348-536: The covers had begun to evolve from featuring a scantily clad couple to showing a view of the landscape featured in the novel. In the earliest Harlequin romance novels, heroines were typically nurses and secretaries, but as time has passed and women have entered the workforce in larger numbers, romance heroines have spanned the career spectrum. Modern romance novels now feature more balanced relationships between men and women. Some important literary figures received critical acclaim for their romance novels. For instance,

3441-598: The early 2000s, though, more books in the romance genre featured heroes and heroines with physical and mental impairments. Mary Balogh 's Simply Love , published in 2006, features a hero with facial scarring and nerve damage who overcomes fears of rejection due to his physical appearance to enter a romantic relationship and family unit by the end of the novel. This was a substantial shift from past narratives where disabled characters were "de-eroticized" and not given storylines that included sex or romantic love. Additionally, autistic characters have gained more representation in

3534-480: The elements that modern women could relate to, and soon began to touch on themes such as single parenthood, adoption, and abuse. The 21st century brought additional changes to the genre that included diversifying main characters and plots to incorporate identities that had not previously been represented. Scholars of romance novel history have observed that characters with disabilities have been largely underrepresented in mainstream media, including romance novels. By

3627-516: The financial and critical success of the adaptations of two successful series of novels: Outlander by Diana Gabaldon , and Bridgerton by Julia Quinn , by paid television network, STARZ and streaming service, Netflix . Debates about whether these novels fall inside or outside the contemporary romance genre, and the extent to which they transcend the genre to be multi-genre, has received mainstream media attention in part due to Gabaldon's frequent and prominent assertions that her Outlander series

3720-440: The firm requirement for a happy ending; some readers admit stories without a happy ending, if the focus of the story is on the romantic love between the two main characters (e.g., Romeo and Juliet ). While the majority of romance novels meet the stricter criteria, there are also many books widely considered to be romance novels that deviate from these rules. The Romance Writers of America's definition of romance novels includes only

3813-553: The first futuristic romance, combining elements of traditional romance novels and science fiction. The relationships had also modernized: by the 1990s, it was rare to see a book that featured a man raping his future wife. In the mid-to-late 1980s, contemporary romances began to feature women in more male-dominated jobs, such as offshore oil rigs and the space program. The age range of heroines also began to expand, so that books began to feature women who had already reached 30 and even 40. Heroes also changed, with some authors veering towards

W. E. D. Ross - Misplaced Pages Continue

3906-453: The first reader of his works, and "Marilyn Ross" was one of his favorite pseudonyms. He died in Saint John on November 1, 1995, aged 82; he was survived by his wife. Many of his novels have been published under different titles or pseudonyms. Dark Shadows by Marilyn Ross Romance novel A romance novel or romantic novel is a genre fiction novel that primary focuses on

3999-469: The first romance author to transition from writing original mass market paperbacks to being published in hardcover. Her novel, A Knight in Shining Armor , "became a natural bestseller." Several authors found success writing single-title romances set in contemporary times, and publishing houses began to encourage the growth in the genre. Because the novels were set in modern times, they could include more of

4092-535: The first single-title romance novel to be published as an original paperback. Like category romances, it was distributed in drug stores and other mass-market merchandising outlets. Paperback books generally were not reviewed by critics. The novel's more erotic content probably contributed to it being a better candidate for initial paperback release rather than hardcover. The book was scheduled for an initial print run of 500,000 copies. By 1978, it had been through 40 printings and had sold over 4.5 million copies. It

4185-500: The focus on a developing romantic relationship and an optimistic ending. Escapism is important; an Avon executive observed that "The phone never rings, the baby never cries and the rent's never overdue in romances." There are many publishers, libraries, bookstores, and literary critics who continue to go by the traditional definition of romance to categorize books. A romance novel can be set in any time period and in any location. In recent years, romance novels have even expanded into

4278-455: The formats, but others, including Jennifer Crusie and Jayne Ann Krentz , have achieved success in both formats. Category romances are short, usually no more than 200 pages, or about 55,000 words. The books are published in clearly delineated lines, with a certain number of books published in each line every month. In many cases, the books are numbered sequentially within the line. These novels have widespread distribution—often worldwide—and

4371-458: The galaxy. There are no specific restrictions on what can or cannot be included in a romance novel. Even controversial subjects are addressed in romance novels, including topics such as date rape , domestic violence , addiction , and disability. The combination of time frame, location, and plot elements does, however, help a novel to fit into one of several romance subgenres. Despite the numerous possibilities this framework allows, many people in

4464-440: The genre after it had begun to change. The number of category romance lines increased at a rapid pace, and by 1985 there were 16 separate lines producing a total of 80 novels per month. The sudden increase in category romance lines meant an equally sudden increase in demand for writers of the new style of romance novel. This tight market caused a proportionate decrease in the quality of the novels that were being released. By 1984,

4557-559: The gothic novel and Elizabethan drama , and "demonstrate[s] the flexibility of the romance novel form." While the literary fiction romance continued to develop in the 20th century, the new subgenre of genre fiction, which first developed in the 19th century, started to become more popular after the First World War . In 1919, E. M. Hull 's novel The Sheik was published in the United Kingdom . The novel, which became hugely popular,

4650-475: The heroes. Heroines of gothic romances often displayed more spunk, but were still dependent on a wealthy, handsome hero. Woodiwiss developed her female protagonist, Heather, more along the lines of a gothic heroine, as slightly more independent but still occasionally needing a stronger man to rescue her. However, rather than being completely dependent on her hero, Heather acted in a manner that earned his respect along with his love. Woodiwiss's hero, Brandon,

4743-406: The heroine typically wins, sometimes overcoming great odds so that she is no longer a victim. Peer-reviewed academic scholarship examining romance novels has increased enormously in the last few decades. Scholars are analysing the significance and impact of the genre, increasingly from a feminist , gender and equity studies perspective. The profile of the romance genre has also been raised by

SECTION 50

#1732876798051

4836-486: The heroine's relationship with her family or friends may be as important as her relationship with the hero. There is a lot of controversy among romance authors about what should and should not be included in plots of romance novels. Some romance novel authors and readers believe the genre has additional restrictions, from plot considerations (such as the protagonists ' meeting early on in the story), to avoiding themes (such as adultery ). Other disagreements have centered on

4929-402: The largest segment of the global book market. The genre boomed in the 1980s, with the addition of many different categories of romance and an increased number of single-title romances, but popular authors started pushing the boundaries of both the genre and plot, as well as creating more contemporary characters. Women will pick up a romance novel knowing what to expect, and this foreknowledge of

5022-451: The main characters' romantic love. Furthermore, a romance novel must have an "emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending." Others, including Leslie Gelbman, a president of Berkley Books , define the genre more simply, stating only that a romance must make the "romantic relationship between the hero and the heroine ... the core of the book." In general, romance novels reward characters who are good people and penalize those who are evil, and

5115-500: The mainstream press claim that "all [romance novels] seem to read alike." Stereotypes of the romance genre abound. For instance, some believe that all romance novels are similar to those of Danielle Steel , featuring rich, glamorous people traveling to exotic locations. Many romance readers disagree that Steel writes romance at all, considering her novels more mainstream fiction. Mass-market or formulaic romance novels are sometimes referred to as "smut" or female pornography , and are

5208-563: The manager of an acting company, and in broadcasting. After his wife died in 1959, he returned to Saint John. In 1960, he married for the second time, to nurse Marilyn Ann Clark. At about this same time, he began writing novels, and found rapid success. Ross appeared as himself on the January 31, 1966 episode of the CBS game show To Tell the Truth . He received two votes. His second wife, Marilyn, served as

5301-448: The market was saturated with category lines and readers had begun to complain of redundancy in plots. The following year, the "dampening effect of the high level of redundancy associated with series romances was evident in the decreased number of titles being read per month." Harlequin's return rate, which had been less than 25% in 1978, when it was the primary provider of category romance, swelled to 60%. The genre continued to expand in

5394-432: The men were not, and both members of the couple were described as beautiful. Category romance lines were slower to react to some of the changes that had swept the historical romance subgenre. Despite the fact that the former Mills & Boon lines were now owned by a North American company, the lines did not have any American writers until 1975, when Harlequin purchased a novel by Janet Dailey . Dailey's novels provided

5487-440: The mid-to-late 1980s, as publishers realized that the more popular authors were often those who stretched the boundaries of the genre. A 1984 novel by LaVyrle Spencer featured an overweight, middle-aged hero who had to make drastic changes to his lifestyle to win the heroine, while a 1987 Dailey novel involved an ugly hero and a heroine who was searching for her birth mother. Jayne Ann Krentz 's 1986 novel Sweet Starfire became

5580-536: The most popular form of modern erotica for women. While some romance novels do contain more erotic acts, in other romance novels the characters do no more than kiss chastely. The romance genre runs the spectrum between these two extremes. Because women buy 90% of all romance novels, most romance novels are told from a woman's viewpoint, in either first or third person . Although most romance novels are about heterosexual pairings, there are romance novels that deal with same-sex relationships , and some participants in

5673-539: The nation's obscenity laws in 1966, ruling in Memoirs v. Massachusetts that the state could not ban the reprint of John Cleland 's erotic novel Fanny Hill . Attitudes toward premarital sex also relaxed considerably. In 1972, less than 40% of American women fully or conditionally endorsed premarital sex; by 1982, 58% of women had adopted this attitude. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, there were two routes to publication for romance novels. Short novels which followed

SECTION 60

#1732876798051

5766-564: The novel, the cover depicted a couple in a full-embrace rather than subtly hinting at physical contact. Avon followed its release of The Flame and the Flower with the 1974 publication of Woodiwiss's second novel, The Wolf and the Dove and two similarly themed romance novels by newcomer Rosemary Rogers . In 1975, Publishers Weekly reported that these four "Avon originals" had sold a combined 8 million copies. Avon's "extraordinary success" led other paperback publishing firms to begin featuring original works by new authors. Avon became known as

5859-671: The novels of Jane Austen . Austen inspired Georgette Heyer , the British author of historical romance set around the time Austen lived, as well as detective fiction . Heyer's first romance novel, The Black Moth (1921), was set in 1751. The British company Mills & Boon began releasing romance novels for women in the 1930s. Their books were sold in North America by Harlequin Enterprises Ltd , which began direct marketing to readers and allowing mass-market merchandisers to carry

5952-500: The novels point out the heroine's eccentricities, such as wanting to marry for love. Heyer was a prolific author, and wrote one to two historical romance novels per year until her death in 1974. During the Ming and Qing dynasties in China, there was a mass circulation and flourishment of a type of printed romantic novels called caizi jiaren ("scholar and beauty"), which typically involves

6045-730: The novels were short and formulaic, featuring heroines who were sweet, compassionate, pure and innocent. The few heroines who worked did so in traditional female jobs, including as nurses , governesses and secretaries . Intimacy in the novels never extended beyond a chaste kiss between the protagonists. On October 1, 1971, Harlequin purchased Mills & Boon. By this point, the romance novel genre "had been popularized and distributed widely to an enthusiastic audience" in Great Britain . In an attempt to duplicate Mills & Boon's success in North America, Harlequin improved their distribution and marketing system. By choosing to sell their books "where

6138-415: The perspective of the heroine. Unlike many of the novels of the time, Pamela had a happy ending, when after Mr. B attempts unsuccessfully to seduce and rape Pamela multiple times, he eventually rewards her virtue by sincerely proposing an equitable marriage to her. The book was one of the first bestsellers, with five editions printed in the first eleven months of release. Richardson began writing Pamela as

6231-451: The premier publishing company for new writers of romance novels. Between 1972 and 1974, the popularity of gothic romances began to wane. The roots of this decline may lie in the sexual revolution and the feminist movement and are likely entwined with the success of The Flame and the Flower . Women were more accepting of, and possibly actively looking for, increased sensuality in novels. This novel–along with Woodiwiss's second and

6324-421: The present day in a state of near-completion: Chareas and Callirhoe , Leucippe and Clitophon , Daphnis and Chloe , The Ephesian Tale , and The Ethiopian Tale . Precursors of the modern popular love-romance can also be found in the sentimental novel Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded , by Samuel Richardson , published in 1740. Pamela was the first popular novel to be based on a courtship as told from

6417-404: The primary readers of romance novels, but according to the Romance Writers of America , 16% of men read romance novels. A thriving genre of works conventionally referred to as "romance novels" existed in ancient Greece. Other precursors can be found in the literary fiction of the 18th and 19th centuries, including Samuel Richardson's sentimental novel Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded (1740) and

6510-440: The reader is very important. When the hero and heroine meet and fall in love, maybe they don't know they're in love but the reader does. Then a conflict will draw them apart, but you know in the end they'll be back together, and preferably married or planning to be by page 192. One definition of the word "romance" is: "the feelings and behavior of two people who are in a loving and sexual relationship with each other." According to

6603-449: The relationship and romantic love between two people, typically with an emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending. Authors who have contributed to the development of this genre include Maria Edgeworth , Samuel Richardson , Jane Austen , and Charlotte Brontë . Romance novels encompass various subgenres, such as fantasy , contemporary , historical romance , paranormal fiction , and science fiction . Women have traditionally been

6696-547: The romance genre since the turn of the century. The year 2010 saw Christine Feehan 's novel, Water Bound , featuring a heroine with autism as a significant plot point including a detailed and compassionate portrayal of living and coping with autism. Helen Hoang 's 2018 novel The Kiss Quotient , for example, focuses on the heroine's Asperger's syndrome . However, it is still rare to find romance novels in which there are characters with cognitive disabilities, and they are most likely to be included as secondary characters. Since

6789-647: The romance genre's "first look at heroines, heroes and courtships that take place in America, with American sensibilities, assumptions, history, and most of all, settings." Harlequin was unsure how the market would react to this new type of romance, and was unwilling to fully embrace it. In the late 1970s, a Harlequin editor rejected a manuscript by Nora Roberts , who has since become the top-selling romance author, because "they already had their American writer." Harlequin sold almost $ 70 million of its paperback romances in 1979 through 100,000 supermarkets and other stores, giving

6882-483: The romantic Tang dynasty chuanqi fictions such as Yingying's Biography , The Tale of Li Wa and Huo Xiaoyu zhuan , as well as the popular works of Song and Yuan playwrights such as Bai Renfu , Zheng Guangzu and Wang Shifu . These novels reached their peak of popularity in the late Ming and early Qing periods, during the 17th century, when a myriad of novels of this type were sold and distributed. The overwhelming prevalence of this type of romance novels

6975-452: The royalties. The novel is set at the turn of the 19th century. After Heather Simmons, a penniless orphan, kills a man named William Court who was attempting to rape her, she flees the scene. Near the London dockside, two men, who mistake her for a prostitute, seize her and escort her onto a ship. Heather believes she has been arrested for murder. Unaware of the misconceptions on both sides,

7068-634: The signs that readers appreciated novels with more explicit sex scenes, and in 1980, several publishers entered the category romance market to fill that gap. That year, Dell launched their Candlelight Ecstasy line with Amii Lorin's The Tawny Gold Man , becoming the first line to waive the requirement that heroines be virgins. By the end of 1983 sales for the Candlelight Ecstasy line totaled $ 30 million. Silhoeutte also launched similar lines, Desire (sexually explicit) and Special Edition (sexually explicit and longer stories, up to 250 pages), each of which had

7161-420: The species (not only the individual), in the sense that romance and partner choice is generally a prerequisite to have offspring and continue maintaining the human species in future generations of humankind. Despite recent rehabilitation and merging of the genre with other genres, there is sometimes a negative stigma with the romance novel. Some dedicated readers are embarrassed to admit to buying or even reading

7254-465: The streets, she tearfully tells him that she was merely lost. Afraid that Heather will tell others what he has done, Brandon tries to bribe Heather by offering to set her up in an affluent house as his mistress. She angrily declines. An angry Brandon then takes Heather hostage and rapes her a third time. Afterwards Heather goes back to sleep. When she awakens again she is allowed to bathe and has breakfast with Brandon. Brandon then attempts to rape her

7347-419: The time Austen lived, in the later Regency period . Because Heyer's romances are set more than 100 years earlier, she includes carefully researched historical detail to help her readers understand the period. Unlike other popular love-romance novels of the time, Heyer's novels used the setting as a major plot device. Her characters often exhibit twentieth-century sensibilities, and more conventional characters in

7440-455: The time of this novel's publication, romance novels, especially those distributed in mass-market format, were generally very chaste, with minimal physical intimacy between the protagonists. Heroines remained virgins—or chaste widows—throughout the novel. The Flame and the Flower departed from this notion quite early in the book. The sexual encounters were not only graphic, but also sometimes violent and non-consensual. The heroine

7533-705: The two Rogers books–essentially established a new style of romance writing, the erotic historical romance. In 1976, over 150 historical romance novels, many of them paperback originals, were published, selling over 40 million copies. These novels were historical fiction tracking the monogamous relationship between helpless heroines and the hero who rescued her, even if he had been the one to place her in danger. This new type of novel, also occasionally referred to as an epic romance, featured longer plots and more intimate and steamy sex scenes. Female characters often travelled to exotic locations and historical incidents or issues were often used as plot points. The Flame and

7626-518: The untapped talent of the American writers. They published several lines of category romance, and encouraged their writers to create stronger heroines and less dominant heroes. Authors were also expected to address contemporary issues where appropriate. Silhouette soon saw their market share expand, and in 1984, Harlequin acquired them. Despite the acquisition, Silhouette continued to retain editorial control and to publish various lines under their own imprint. Harlequin had also failed to adapt quickly to

7719-411: The women are," they allowed many mass-market merchandisers and even supermarkets to sell the books, all of which were exactly 192 pages. Harlequin then began a reader service, selling directly to readers who agreed to purchase a certain number of books each month. In the US, modern romance genre fiction was born in 1972, with Avon's publication of Kathleen Woodiwiss' The Flame and the Flower , which

7812-431: The work of loving yourself." Romance novelists attribute the stigma to the fact that romance is, according to some, a genre "written almost exclusively by women for women." Romance novelist Jennifer Crusie counters that in the modern romance novel "a woman is rewarded with unconditional love [only] if she remains true to herself," while novelist Susan Elizabeth Phillips believes that romance novels are popular because

7905-470: The works of prolific author, Georgette Heyer , which contain many tropes and stereotypes, some of which, have recently been edited out of some of her novels. In the 1950s emerging bestselling British romance writers included Catherine Cookson , followed in the 1980s, by Marion Chesney (pen name M.C. Beaton), who was known more widely for her detective series featuring Hamish MacBeth and Agatha Raisin . Strong sales of popular romance novels make this

7998-558: Was adapted into a movie (1921), which established star Rudolph Valentino as the top male actor of the time. The hero of this book was an iconic alpha male who kidnapped the heroine and won her admiration through his forceful actions. The novel was one of the first modern works to introduce the rape fantasy , a theme explored in Samuel Richardson's Pamela (1740). Although women were gaining more independence in life, publishers believed that readers would only accept premarital sex in

8091-668: Was called "the best romance novel ever written." In the early part of the Victorian era , the Brontë sisters , like Edgeworth and Austen, wrote literary fiction that influenced later popular fiction. While Maria Edgeworth introduced the orphaned heroine archetype in her Romantic works Belinda (1801) and Helen (1834), Charlotte Brontë later adapted the archetype for the Victorian audience in Jane Eyre (1847). Brontë's romance incorporates elements of both

8184-655: Was famously mocked in Cao Xueqin 's The Dream of the Red Chamber , where it ridicules: "There are thousands of such "caizi jiaren" ["scholar and beauty"] books, and yet they are all alike!". Moreover, these Chinese romance novels would also go on to have an enduring influence on both Eastern and Western literatures. In the 1930s, the British publishers Mills & Boon began releasing hardback romance novels. The books were sold through weekly two-penny libraries and were known as "the books in brown" for their brown binding. In

8277-430: Was in contrast to the contemporary romances published during this time, which were often characterized by weak females who fell in love with overbearing alpha males . Although these heroines had active roles in the plot, they were "passive in relationships with the heroes." Across the genre, heroines during this time were usually aged 16–21, with the heroes slightly older, usually around 30. The women were virgins , while

8370-406: Was initially depicted as ominous and dangerous, "darkly tanned" with black hair and a willingness to imprison the heroine to get his way. As the book progressed, the hero was instead subjugated by his love for the heroine. In the novel's climax he was described as "pale" and "trembling", the antithesis of his initial description. In her book The Dangerous Lover , Deborah Lutz labels this reversal

8463-436: Was not only raped by her future husband, but two other men attempted to rape her. The initial rape was used as a plot device to overcome the societal norms which frowned on women who consented to premarital sex. Instead of being described as a completely violent act, the rape was depicted as an "erotic fantasy" of subjugation. In many romances, heroines generally did not have strong personalities, and were more submissive to

8556-408: Was rejected by multiple agents and hardcover publishers for its length. Rather than follow the advice of the rejection letters and rewrite the novel, Woodiwiss instead submitted it to paperback publisher Avon Books . Avon editor Nancy Coffey pulled the manuscript from the slush pile and liked what she read. Avon purchased the publication rights from Woodiwiss for $ 1,500 and agreed to pay her 4% of

8649-503: Was the first of the modern " bodice ripper " romance novels to follow "the principals into the bedroom." Aside from its content, the book was revolutionary in that it was one of the first single-title romance novels to be published as an original paperback , rather than being first published in hardcover , and, like the category romances, was distributed in drug stores and other mass-market merchandising outlets. The novel went on to sell 2.35 million copies. Avon followed its release with

#50949