Promotional Information

Frenier looks at developments in the genre of popular romance fiction in light of feminist issues and the pervasive social changes that continue to affect women in the post-World War II decades. Exploring traditional and more contemporary depictions of romantic heroines, as well as changing approaches to sexuality, she assesses the degree to which the values of the sexual revolution and women's movement have penetrated this form of popular culture.

Table of Contents

Introduction
The Romance Industry
Feminist Studies of Women's Popular Romances
Harlequins 1970 Through 1982: Category Romances Written by United Kingdom Authors
Silhouettes Aren't Harlequins: Reflections on Differences Between American and United Kingdom Authors
Under American Influence: Category Romances in the 1980s
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index

About the Author

MARIAM DARCE FRENIER is Associate Professor of History at the University of Minnesota.

Reviews

?Virginal heroines, young and naive but seething with passion, change sardonic heroes into loving, monogamous husbands. Such romance novel characters and themes have been transformed by the women's movement, argues history professor Frenier in this convincing, well-researched study. Frenier surveys earlier feminist studies of women's romances and traces the evolution of the romance industry, focusing on the competition between Harlequin's more traditional British writers aand the American authors of Silouette. She finds undertones of rape and violence in late 1970s novels giving way to more explicit and equal sexuality, to gentler, more nurturing heroes matched with stronger, more experienced heroines. By the late 1980s, premarital sex and women's careers are assumed in many novels, but the heroines greatest power remains her ability to inspire her hero to addictive, obsessive love. . . the subject is fascinating . . .?-Booklist

"Virginal heroines, young and naive but seething with passion, change sardonic heroes into loving, monogamous husbands. Such romance novel characters and themes have been transformed by the women's movement, argues history professor Frenier in this convincing, well-researched study. Frenier surveys earlier feminist studies of women's romances and traces the evolution of the romance industry, focusing on the competition between Harlequin's more traditional British writers aand the American authors of Silouette. She finds undertones of rape and violence in late 1970s novels giving way to more explicit and equal sexuality, to gentler, more nurturing heroes matched with stronger, more experienced heroines. By the late 1980s, premarital sex and women's careers are assumed in many novels, but the heroines greatest power remains her ability to inspire her hero to addictive, obsessive love. . . the subject is fascinating . . ."-Booklist