Table of Contents

Preface: The Most Popular, Least Respected Literary Genre

PART I. CRITICS AND THE ROMANCE NOVEL
1. The Romance Novel and Women's Bondage
2. In Defense of the Romance Novel

PART II. THE ROMANCE NOVEL DEFINED
3. The Definition
4. The Definition Expanded
5. The Genre's Limits

PART III. THE ROMANCE NOVEL, 1740-1908
6. Writing the Romance Novel's History
7. The First Best Seller: Pamela, 1740
8. The Best Romance Novel Ever Written: Pride and Prejudice, 1813
9. Freedom and Rochester: Jane Eyre, 1847
10. The Romance Form in the Victorian Multiplot Novel: Framley Parsonage, 1861
11. The Ideal Romance Novel: A Room with a View, 1908

PART IV. THE TWENTIETH CENTURY ROMANCE NOVEL
12. The Popular Romance Novel in the Twentieth Century
13. Civil Contracts: Georgette Heyer
14. Courtship and Suspense: Mary Stewart
15. Harlequin, Silhouette, and the Americanization of the Popular Romance Novel: Janet Dailey
16. Dangerous Men: Jayne Ann Krentz
17. One Man, One Woman: Nora Roberts

Conclusion

Works Cited
Index
Acknowledgments

Promotional Information

Pamela Regis argues that the romance novel, the most popular but least respected of literary genres, does not enslave women but celebrates their freedom and joy. Regis provides critics with an expanded vocabulary for discussing a genre that is both classic and contemporary, sexy and entertaining.

About the Author

Pamela Regis is Professor of English at McDaniel College and the author of Describing Early America: Bartram, Jefferson, Crevecoeur, and the Influence of Natural History, also available from the University of Pennsylvania Press. She is the receipient of the 2007 Melinda Helfer Fairy Godmother Award.

Reviews

"Finally, a true and insightful history of the romance novel. This book establishes the historical legitimacy of an important literary genre."--Jayne Ann Krentz "Regis sets out to analyse the formal features and literary history of this much-maligned genre... A thorough, sensible, and partisan book, arguing for romantic fiction as a genre that celebrates freedom of choice."--Times Literary Supplement "Useful to those interested in the form and integrity of romance fiction, this volume joins such noteworthy examinations of the romance as Tania Modleski's Loving with a Vengeance and Janice Radway's Reading the Romance."--Choice

"Finally, a true and insightful history of the romance novel. This book establishes the historical legitimacy of an important literary genre."--Jayne Ann Krentz "Regis sets out to analyse the formal features and literary history of this much-maligned genre... A thorough, sensible, and partisan book, arguing for romantic fiction as a genre that celebrates freedom of choice."--Times Literary Supplement "Useful to those interested in the form and integrity of romance fiction, this volume joins such noteworthy examinations of the romance as Tania Modleski's Loving with a Vengeance and Janice Radway's Reading the Romance."--Choice