The History Of The Romance Novel…

Watching a Masterpiece Theatre adaptation of Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey started my ponderings on the history of Romance novels.  Of course in Jane Austen’s novel the young heroin is reading Udolpho a Gothic Romance by Ann Radcliffe published in 1794.  Upon researching the subject I discovered previous to Ann Radcliffe, Samuel Richardson wrote a novel titled Pamela, Or Virtue Rewarded in 1740.  Written as a series of letters, the story told of the life of young Pamela, a fifteen year old servant.  The son of her recently departed employer makes advances towards her, but she refuses him.   A series of events occur which finally bring the two together in matrimony despite the social gap between them.  Then we come to Jane Austen and the stories we all love, Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Northanger Abbey, Mansfield Park and more.  A long time passes before Georgette Heyer releases Regency Buck in 1935, a Historical Regency Romance.  Regency Buck told the story of a lovely young ward persued by her guardian.  In 1957, Harlequin obtained the rights to distribute romance novels published overseas by Mills and Boon.  Young American women of reading age in the 1970’s and 80’s would recognize the impact of Harlequin.  After Harlequin came Avon and the story continues.

“Romance Novel.” Wikipedia. 05 May 2009. 06 May 2009 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romance_novel.