![Afbeelding auteur](https://pics.cdn.librarything.com//picsizes/82/5d/825dc294c46be8765494c7441514330414c5141_v5.jpg)
Lori A. Paige
Auteur van Passion's Legacy
Over de Auteur
Lori Paige, an associate professor and chair of the English Department at American International College in Springfield, Massachusetts, teaches courses in British and vampire literature.
Werken van Lori A. Paige
The Gothic Romance Wave: A Critical History of the Mass Market Novels, 1960-1993 (2018) 5 exemplaren
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Unlike the romance genre in general, gothic romance rates low on the steamy scale for sex scenes. The stories are chaste, as the author points out. Intimacy is hinted at but never detailed. Paige describes the gothic romance formula as, “…sturdy, dependable, and instantly recognizable: a gloomy house or castle filled with sinister family members and frightening servants, a heroine the reader can identify with, a thread of romance that usually that usually goes no further than a few stolen kisses, and an abrupt declaration of love or a marriage proposal near the last page.”
Easily identified by their cover art, known as the “women running from houses”, the heroine is often pictured wearing a long white night gown, barefoot, long hair flowing, while she flees the dark castle (or house), pictured in the background, where a single light shines in an upper window. Publishers even used the “woman running from houses” cover art for contemporary stories about a modern, short-haired, blue jeans wearing heroine. The cover art was a huge part of the “branding” of gothic romance and fans of the genre love the cover art almost as much, or maybe more than the stories themselves. There are several websites and Pinterest boards are devoted to gothic romance cover art.
In her book, Paige traces the roots of gothic romance back to 18th century, specifically to Anne Radcliffe, author of The Mysteries of Udolpho, published in 1794. The second wave in gothics came when Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte was published in 1847 under the pen name of Currer Bell. Paige ties the popularity of gothics with spikes in the feminist movement. First wave feminism began around the same time that Bronte’s Jane Eyre was published, with the beginnings of the suffragette movement. The second wave of the feminist movement, began in 1963 with Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique, which was around the same time that the gothic romance mass market paperback, with its independent heroines, was beginning to gain popularity among women readers. The genre became so wildly successful and popular in the late 60s and into the 70s that publishers were struggling to meet the demands. Writers now known for other genres, such as Deane Koontz, wrote gothic romance novels in the beginning of their writing careers.
The Gothic Romance Wave: A Critical History of the Mass Market Novel, 1960-1993, also serves as a future reading list for fans of the genre. Throughout the book, Paige discusses key authors such as Victoria Holt, Dan Ross, (aka Marilyn Ross), and Phyllis Whitney to name a few.… (meer)