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In VOX LIT November 2018 :
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IN THE FREE BOOK LOVERS' MAG VOXLIT ON-LINE THIS MONTH:
***GET READY FOR A BOOK-LOVERS' CHRISTMAS*** As Christmas approaches, The Voice of Literature is full of ideas and memories for a cosy literary festive season. Did you know that the forefather of the steamy historcial romance was a staid old gentleman in 18th century England? Read more in the latest of our history of the genre series. In addition, Cherise brings some words of wisdom for impecunious authors, and Kyrian regales us with an excerpt from her poetry collection 'Remnants of Severed Chains'. In our features section, our new contributor, poetry critic Mairi-Rose Wiseman, is in nostalgic mood over a poem from her schooldays. You may remember it too. In the Satire section, James has been unable to resist the temptation to pen an allegorical piece on the great Brexit dilemma. Our Writers Notes section indulges in a bit of cross-fertilisation between the worlds of film-making and literature and demonstrates an interesting trick of the trade. Looking for ideas for books for Christmas presents. To help you, we've listed some of the major book award winners. And also, it could be worth having a peek at our book review page, both the new reviews from Ted and James and the numerous reviews from ^previous issues. So tuck into this seasonal literary feast, and Seasonal Greetings from all of us. ***************************************************************************** |
Click for these other ARTICLES .... More useful marketing advice for authors from Cherise Castle-Blugh A poem from poet, novelist and magazine producer Kyrian Lyndon Mairi-Rose Wiseman with fond memories of a poem from her childhood James Gault investigates how novelists have supported the feminist movement |
SATIRE
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HISTORY OF THE GENRE
Historical romance and bodice ripping
Take a good look at this gentleman. A staid and stately old British chap from the Georgian era of the first half of the eighteenth century? Probably. A printer to the British parliament? Possibly? The funder of the genre of steamy romantic novels? It doesn’t seem likely, but in fact Samuel Richardson was all of these; and most famously, the last of them.
Richardson first novel, written at the age of 51, was called ‘Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded ’and some claim it to be the very first novel. While this is disputed, it certainly can be seen as the first of a whole genre of romantic novels with a standard plot and a very wide following.
Pamela, a fifteen year old maid, is pursued her newly widowed master who attempts to seduce and rape her. She resists his advances even though she falls in love with him, and is rewarded by securing him as her husband. It’s a standard story of hate turning to love, of a villain converted to a saint, and of despair transformed into happiness. It’s a winning formula whose appeal has endured down the centuries.
But the appeal of this overused scenario in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries is linked to the setting.
Richardson’s story was a contemporary one for the writer, but the plot just doesn’t work so well in the modern world. Without the dark and mysterious atmosphere of the past, it seems hackneyed and calls for a significant suspension of disbelief on the part of the reader.
This combination of illicit love and history resulted in the highly successful genre of the semi-erotic historical romance: the bodice ripper. The market was eager for it and it made the fortunes of publishers like Harlequin and Mills and Boon. Although the genre was spurned by highbrow critics, the public lapped it up.
Richardson’s novel was offered as a lesson in morality; the modern version is pure entertainment. Does this mean it deserves to be consigned to the buckets labelled ‘Pulp Fiction’ and Penny Dreadful? In my opinion, not at all. The genre has an excellent pedigree: Walter Scott in Britain, Balzac and Victor Hugo in France, and James Fennymore Cooper in USA. Modern writers like Georgette Heyer, Kathyrn Woodiwiss, Juliet Benzoni, Sergeanne Golon and Hilary Mantel have built on these foundations – almost all lady novelist. As in all fields, men have replaced women: who nowadays would read a historical romance written by a man?
The sexual liberation of the 1960s and the abolition of censorship led to the opening of the bedroom or boudoir doors and the novels became more explicit. But will this abandonment of inhibitions eventually lead to the death of the genre? And what about the effect of feminism? The weak and vulnerable heroine seems to be going out of fashion. Women have long since thrown away the bodice, and today it would take a brave man to rip the t-shirt that has replaced it.
So will there be a role reversal? Maybe there will be. No more bodices to be ripped? Instead maybe it’s time for a warning for the boys? Hold on tightly to your trousers,lads.
Contributed by James Gault.
Richardson first novel, written at the age of 51, was called ‘Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded ’and some claim it to be the very first novel. While this is disputed, it certainly can be seen as the first of a whole genre of romantic novels with a standard plot and a very wide following.
Pamela, a fifteen year old maid, is pursued her newly widowed master who attempts to seduce and rape her. She resists his advances even though she falls in love with him, and is rewarded by securing him as her husband. It’s a standard story of hate turning to love, of a villain converted to a saint, and of despair transformed into happiness. It’s a winning formula whose appeal has endured down the centuries.
But the appeal of this overused scenario in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries is linked to the setting.
Richardson’s story was a contemporary one for the writer, but the plot just doesn’t work so well in the modern world. Without the dark and mysterious atmosphere of the past, it seems hackneyed and calls for a significant suspension of disbelief on the part of the reader.
This combination of illicit love and history resulted in the highly successful genre of the semi-erotic historical romance: the bodice ripper. The market was eager for it and it made the fortunes of publishers like Harlequin and Mills and Boon. Although the genre was spurned by highbrow critics, the public lapped it up.
Richardson’s novel was offered as a lesson in morality; the modern version is pure entertainment. Does this mean it deserves to be consigned to the buckets labelled ‘Pulp Fiction’ and Penny Dreadful? In my opinion, not at all. The genre has an excellent pedigree: Walter Scott in Britain, Balzac and Victor Hugo in France, and James Fennymore Cooper in USA. Modern writers like Georgette Heyer, Kathyrn Woodiwiss, Juliet Benzoni, Sergeanne Golon and Hilary Mantel have built on these foundations – almost all lady novelist. As in all fields, men have replaced women: who nowadays would read a historical romance written by a man?
The sexual liberation of the 1960s and the abolition of censorship led to the opening of the bedroom or boudoir doors and the novels became more explicit. But will this abandonment of inhibitions eventually lead to the death of the genre? And what about the effect of feminism? The weak and vulnerable heroine seems to be going out of fashion. Women have long since thrown away the bodice, and today it would take a brave man to rip the t-shirt that has replaced it.
So will there be a role reversal? Maybe there will be. No more bodices to be ripped? Instead maybe it’s time for a warning for the boys? Hold on tightly to your trousers,lads.
Contributed by James Gault.
Glittering Prizes
It’s that time of year when the great and good of the literary world hand out their accolades,so here is an update.
Nobel Prize for Literature (Sweden, but really International and the most prestigious)
There is no 2018 Nobel literature laureate so far this year. Amid controversy over sexual abuse allegations, the Academy has decided to postpone the award.
Man Booker (UK)
The 2018 Man Booker prize for fiction goes to Anna Burns for her novel ‘MilkMan’, a tale of romance, relationships and family intrigue. The chair of the judging panel, Kwame Anthony Appiah, has this to say: ‘The language of Anna Burns’ Milkman is simply marvellous; beginning with the distinctive and consistently realised voice of the funny, resilient, astute, plain-spoken, first-person protagonist. From the opening page her words pull us into the daily violence of her world — threats of murder, people killed by state hit squads — while responding to the everyday realities of her life as a young woman, negotiating a way between the demands of family, friends and lovers in an unsettled time. The novel delineates brilliantly the power of gossip and social pressure in a tight-knit community, and shows how both rumour and political loyalties can be put in the service of a relentless campaign of individual sexual harassment. Burns draws on the experience of Northern Ireland during the Troubles to portray a world that allows individuals to abuse the power granted by a community to those who resist the state on their behalf. Yet this is never a novel about just one place or time. The local is in service to an exploration of the universal experience of societies in crisis.’
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (USA)
Won by ‘Less’ by Andrew Sean Greer, a story of a gay failed novelist in a failed relationship who escapes on a World tour. ‘...takes some mischievous gambles with his comic novel’ The Times
National Book Awards Fiction (USA)
This prize was one for 2018 by ‘The Friend’ from Sigfrid Nunez. The New York Times said of this novel: ‘This book brings a set of complicated facts and emotions to our #MeToo moment. The narrator’s dead friend was a beautiful man with a BBC accent, a writer and teacher and womanizer. He frequently slept with his students, of whom, back in the day, she was one.’
...more award news to follow in our next edition of The Voice of Literature.
Nobel Prize for Literature (Sweden, but really International and the most prestigious)
There is no 2018 Nobel literature laureate so far this year. Amid controversy over sexual abuse allegations, the Academy has decided to postpone the award.
Man Booker (UK)
The 2018 Man Booker prize for fiction goes to Anna Burns for her novel ‘MilkMan’, a tale of romance, relationships and family intrigue. The chair of the judging panel, Kwame Anthony Appiah, has this to say: ‘The language of Anna Burns’ Milkman is simply marvellous; beginning with the distinctive and consistently realised voice of the funny, resilient, astute, plain-spoken, first-person protagonist. From the opening page her words pull us into the daily violence of her world — threats of murder, people killed by state hit squads — while responding to the everyday realities of her life as a young woman, negotiating a way between the demands of family, friends and lovers in an unsettled time. The novel delineates brilliantly the power of gossip and social pressure in a tight-knit community, and shows how both rumour and political loyalties can be put in the service of a relentless campaign of individual sexual harassment. Burns draws on the experience of Northern Ireland during the Troubles to portray a world that allows individuals to abuse the power granted by a community to those who resist the state on their behalf. Yet this is never a novel about just one place or time. The local is in service to an exploration of the universal experience of societies in crisis.’
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (USA)
Won by ‘Less’ by Andrew Sean Greer, a story of a gay failed novelist in a failed relationship who escapes on a World tour. ‘...takes some mischievous gambles with his comic novel’ The Times
National Book Awards Fiction (USA)
This prize was one for 2018 by ‘The Friend’ from Sigfrid Nunez. The New York Times said of this novel: ‘This book brings a set of complicated facts and emotions to our #MeToo moment. The narrator’s dead friend was a beautiful man with a BBC accent, a writer and teacher and womanizer. He frequently slept with his students, of whom, back in the day, she was one.’
...more award news to follow in our next edition of The Voice of Literature.
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Looking for a book to give for Christmas - new books from our contributors
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