A Natural History of the Romance Novel [Hardcover]

Pamela Regis (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 6, 2003 | ISBN-10: 0812233034 | ISBN-13: 978-0812233032

The romance novel has the strange distinction of being the most popular but least respected of literary genres. While it remains consistently dominant in bookstores and on best-seller lists, it is also widely dismissed by the critical community. Scholars have alleged that romance novels help create subservient readers, who are largely women, by confining heroines to stories that ignore issues other than love and marriage.

Pamela Regis argues that such critical studies fail to take into consideration the personal choice of readers, offer any true definition of the romance novel, or discuss the nature and scope of the genre. Presenting the counterclaim that the romance novel does not enslave women but, on the contrary, is about celebrating freedom and joy, Regis offers a definition that provides critics with an expanded vocabulary for discussing a genre that is both classic and contemporary, sexy and entertaining.

Taking the stance that the popular romance novel is a work of literature with a brilliant pedigree, Regis asserts that it is also a very old, stable form. She traces the literary history of the romance novel from canonical works such as Richardson's Pamela through Austen's Pride and Prejudice, Brontë's Jane Eyre, and E. M. Hull's The Sheik, and then turns to more contemporary works such as the novels of Georgette Heyer, Mary Stewart, Janet Dailey, Jayne Ann Krentz, and Nora Roberts.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Finally, a true and insightful history of the romance novel. This book establishes the historical legitimacy of an important literary genre."—Jayne Ann Krentz

"Regis sets out to analyse the formal features and literary history of this much-maligned genre. . . . A thorough, sensible, and partisan book, arguing for romantic fiction as a genre that celebrates freedom of choice."—Times Literary Supplement

"Useful to those interested in the form and integrity of romance fiction, this volume joins such noteworthy examinations of the romance as Tania Modleski's Loving with a Vengeance and Janice Radway's Reading the Romance."—Choice

About the Author

Pamela Regis is Professor of English at McDaniel College and the author of Describing Early America: Bartram, Jefferson, Crevecoeur, and the Influence of Natural History, also available from the University of Pennsylvania Press. She is the receipient of the 2007 Melinda Helfer Fairy Godmother Award.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press (May 6, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812233034
• ISBN-13: 978-0812233032
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,970,902 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars No pride, no prejudice, September 19, 2003

By 

Kent Wittrup (Lynn, MA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Natural History of the Romance Novel (Hardcover)

A landmark. Professor Regis has finished the job Jane Tompkins began with _Sensational Designs_ and Janice Radway continued in _Reading the Romance_. Couldn't be an easier read, balanced but sympathetic, and interesting even if you haven't read the book she's discussing. Not the last word by any means, but there'll be no getting the genie back into the bottle now.

7 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Circular reasoning, December 9, 2007

By 

Virginia E. Demarce "veasleyd" (Arlington, VA USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: A Natural History of the Romance Novel (Paperback)

Pamela Regis' book, A Natural History of the Romance Novel, is a remarkable example of circular reasoning in literary analysis. She sets up a very specific definition of the concept "romance novel" -- namely "a work of prose fiction that tells the story of the courtship and betrothal of one or more heroines."

In Chapter 4, The Definition Expanded, she then narrows this definition by defining eight aspects which she perceives as necessary to the form: Society Defined, The Meeting, The Barrier, The Attraction, The Declaration, Point of Ritual Death, The Recognition, and The Betrothal.

It should be noted that in this context, she presumes that the "betrothal" will occur between the hero and heroine, thus eliminating from the "romance novel" category an immensely popular work such as Anthony Hope's 1895 The Prisoner of Zenda, which followed the trope of love between hero and heroine sacrificed to the more imperative needs of honor and duty.

Given these tight limits on what the author is willing to consider to be a "romance novel," she focuses on tracing the form from Joseph Richardson's 18th century epistolary blockbuster, Pamela, through Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, and other selected 19th century authors, picking up Georgette Heyer in the first half of the 20th century, and continuing through Janet Dailey, Jayne Ann Krentz, and Nora Roberts.

From the perspective of the historian rather than the literary critic, the major deficiency of the book lies in its lack of attention to authors who, in their own time, were blockbuster bestsellers. While she explains why Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca and Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind do not meet the criteria she has adopted for being "romance novels" (Chapter 5, The Genre's Limits), she still ignores completely quite a number of writers who were, in their own day, multi-title blockbusters in the romance field, such as George Barr McCutcheon, although devoting a full chapter to his contemporary E.M. Forster's 1908 A Room with a view.

A better title than "Natural History" of the romance novel would have been "Literary Analysis" of the romance novel.

1 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars It didn't add much...., June 3, 2007

By 

Book lover -Philadelphia - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: A Natural History of the Romance Novel (Paperback)

As a long-time fan of this genre, I expected more from this book. However, it was too academic, spent too long on only a few authors and didn't add anything to my understanding. The author spent quite a bit of time reviewing plot details and I admit that I enjoyed her analysis of Nora Roberts and Jayne Krentz books that I had read, but there was too much detail and repetition.
There must be better books out there....and I'd love to read any suggestions.