The Look of Love: The Art of the Romance Novel [Paperback]

Jennifer McKnight-Trontz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 2002

Swashbuckling sailors, dashing dukes, naughty nurses, and sexy steward-esses caught in webs of love, passion, betrayal, and intrigue: these are the raw materials of the romance novel--and the lusty covers that advertise them. In The Look of Love, Jennifer McKnight-Trontz provides a rollicking history of the covers and stories that have captivated millions of readers worldwide. More than 150 of the most sensational covers from this venerable if venal literary form are shown in glorious color, focusing on the period from 1940 to 1970, romance design's most fertile era. The Look of Love features artwork and excerpts from titles such as Passion Flower, Kept Woman, Rendezvous in Lisbon, and Jungle Nurse. Along the way, it brings attention to the pioneers of the romance novel: cover artists such as Barye Phillips and Robert Maguire, who helped define the look of paperbacks in general, and Harlequin, the grand dame of romance publishers, with more than 100 million novels sold each year. McKnight-Trontz reveals the themes that typify both the story lines and the covers--hospital romance, the rich and raunchy, royalty, tropical paradises, Westerns, "taboo" relationships, pirates and warriors, and love triangles--resulting in this definitive compendium of camp. A book for romance lovers everywhere.

Editorial Reviews

Review

These images are intense distillations of female longing whether the heroines look implausibly innocent or delightfully wanton. -- Salon Recommends, Salon.com, January 28, 2002

About the Author

Jennifer McKnight-Trontz is a writer and designer living in south Florida whose books include Hang in There!, How to Be Popular, Yes You Can, and The Good Citizen's Handbook.

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press; 1 edition (February 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1568983123
• ISBN-13: 978-1568983127
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,252,955 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lust, passion, betrayal and that's just the cover!, August 11, 2002

By 

Robin Benson - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Look of Love: The Art of the Romance Novel (Paperback)

Individually these covers are very dull as graphic designs but put 150 in a book and they become interesting. As the author says in the intro, the paperback romance has come a long way. For years the covers of this literary genre had a dominant painting, predictably of the heroine, mediocre typography for the title, blurb and author's name. By the seventies things had changed for the better and covers took on the full force of the Marketing Division, image space was reduced to make way for expressive typography (some of it very good too) die-cut holes, foil stamping, embossing, fluorescent inks, thermography and varied paper stock.

Unfortunately there is only one example of the contemporary look ('Hearts Aflame' by Johanna Lindsey) in the 150 shown. Mostly they are American covers from the forties to the mid-sixties, some from Canada and a few from Mills and Boon the main British romance publisher. Each of the nine chapters has a page of intro text printed on slightly yellowing paper, leading into the covers, a nice touch on these intro pages is the turned over top right-hand corner creating a bookmark, as one does with inexpensive books. Some of the covers also have the back shown and you can read the clichéd copy written to convince the casual book browser that they really do want to know what happened next.

This is worthwhile addition to my popular culture book collection and if you want more have a look at the six hundred covers in Richard Lupff's `The Great American Paperback', a book of coffee-table proportions covering all genres but which I found rather disappointing because of its sloppy production.

I don't think I'm giving too much away if I quote the last page of `The Look of Love'...
"That's what it's like, darling," said Mrs. Stokes uneasily, "Being a doctor's wife, I mean."
"I know," said Linette softly, her eyes starry. "Isn't it wonderful?"

***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars As much an art book as a literary survey, April 10, 2002

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Look of Love: The Art of the Romance Novel (Paperback)

As much an art book as a literary survey, Look Of Love considers the covers and stories of the romance market which have captivated millions from 1940-70. From changing themes of romance novels - such as women who come to struggle between careers and love - to changing images of women and passion, this is a colorful and revealing survey.

5.0 out of 5 stars Vintage Romance Covers Are Fun!, August 7, 2009

By 

Deborah Akers (Southeastern U.S.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Look of Love: The Art of the Romance Novel (Paperback)

I will admit to not having read much of the text in this lovely little book; the real draw here are all the cover reproductions. Naughty nurses, heaving bosoms, sexy secretaries...all are fully represented within these pages. I love all the different styles of painting and drawing within. I mostly use this book as inspiration for my own paintings. It's really quite a lot of fun to flip through as pretty much every page will make you smile. Highly recommended.