Her argument though does not hinge on the sexual – though these novels do serve up a heady dollop of steamy sex – but rather that they serve up a particular fantasy that cuts to the heart of male-female relations as we know it: Though there were other factors involved in this, one must remember that romance novels have been described as “pornography for women”, most famously by Ann Barr Snitow. I’ll admit that my recourse to romance (novels) rebooting my near-dead libido to heights I haven’t experienced in the past decade. The romantic quest, then, is a quest for the kind of intimacy women do not usually find possible with men. From her interviews with women readers in small-town America – usually married housewives – she unearthed the fantasy at work in successful romance novels, a fantasy she theorised of recouping the unconditional love girls experience with their mothers. Instead, I am drawn to romances of the more sensational variety, the classic romance genre that Janice Radway studied in her pathbreaking reader response work. Sure, I have my favourites, whose new offerings I will read no matter what, but by and large, the genre does not seem to interest me anymore (gasp!). Three Hail Marys was the penance I was allocated by the bored padre).Īlthough this blog is supposed to be dedicated to chick lit, the subject of my PhD, I find I can no longer read these novels. Okay, now’s a good time to pause and consider why I have suddenly developed this voracious appetite for racy, romance novels, the kind my mother and grandmother used to devour and which I would sneakily read the sex scenes of, thereby furthering my sexual education and also my sinfulness (my mother made me confess to a priest when she caught me once. I picked Lord of Scoundrels, cheesy title notwithstanding, and I was swept away from page 1. While google “best Mary Balogh books”, I came across this list, and it has proved pretty sound.
I was losing steam with Mary Balogh’s oeuvre, so decided to change it up by going all in and expanding my author list.
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