Twentieth-Century Romance and Gothic Writers
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PREFACE
KAY MUSSELL
EDITOR
JAMES VINSON
ASSOCIA TE EDITOR
D.L. KIRKPATRICK
M
©
by Macmillan Publishers Limited, 1982
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1982 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without permission. First published 1982 by MACMILLAN PUBLISHERS LIMITED (Journals Division) Associated companies throughout the world Distributed by Globe Books Services Ltd Canada Road, Byfleet, Surrey KT14 7JL ISBN 978-1-349-06129-7 ISBN 978-1-349-06127-3 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-06127-3
CONTENTS
PREFACE AND READING LIST EDITOR'S NOTE ADVISERS AND CONTRIBUTORS
TWENTIETH-CENTURY ROMANCE AND GOTHIC WRITERS
page v Xl X111
7
TITLE INDEX
737
NOTES ON ADVISERS AND CONTRIBUTORS
893
iii
PREFACE The roots of gothic and romance fiction lie in the origins of the novel form itself. In the 18th and early 19th centuries, the two most prominent types of fiction-the seduction story and the gothic tale of terror-were the predecessors of today's romance fiction, and for two centuries writers on both sides of the Atlantic have written stories of romantic adventure that appealed to a largely middle-class audience. But as the novel form matured, the gothic and romantic subject matter was left behind, becoming the province of popular writers who continued to write such tales while more serious authors examined topics of a more universal character. Critics of early fiction often noted the high percentage of female readers for gothic and romance; but most serious novelists were male, addressing themselves to an audience that was not sex-specific. Romances, however, continued to flourish even in eclipse. Although these novels received little critical attention, publishers and readers kept them alive. The books were written, published, read, and enjoyed whether or not the literary establishment took notice ofthem and despite the disrepute into which they had fallen. In the 20th century, gothic and romance novels have had a steady popularity, although only a handful of authors prior to 1960 enjoyed significant public attention, usually through the repeated production of best-sellers or by writing a single block-buster novel with romantic overtones. Writers like Mary Roberts Rinehart, for example, who wrote both romantic mysteries and straight romances, were occasionally so prolific and so successful that they achieved public prominence over a long period of time. Alternatively, a writer such as Margaret Mitchell, author of one exceptionally popular historical romance, might influence scores of lesser writers who never achieved her audience. For the most part, however, writers of gothic and romantic novels have worked in relative obscurity, attracting a largely female audience of readers who were in on the secret. Both gothics and romances have been categorized by critics and scholars as "mere" love stories or as unrealistic emotional adventures unworthy of serious consideration. Nevertheless, in the early 1980's two of the five best-sel
