Hitting the Books

My first introduction to romance novels was in grade school, when the school librarian (considering me a very mature reader) asked me to review a new book and tell her if it was “too much” for a 4th grader to handle. The book was Jessica, number 6 in a line of historical romances for teens called Sunfire. I was the perfect age for the sugar-sweet romances these stories portrayed, and the historical aspect fascinated me.

I laugh now at how incredibly cheesy (and rather poorly written) those books were. Back as a preteen, I loved them. The heroines were always strong-willed and beautiful, and they always got to choose between two suitors during some important event of American history (the Civil War, Salem witch trials, Galveston hurricane of 1900). And they all ended the way romances should, with a kiss and the promise of a future together.

Over time, my romance tastes matured (sometimes maturing a bit too fast–I read John Jakes North and South series as an 8th grader. If you’ve ever read those books, you’ll understand why. He definitely did not have preteens in mind when he wrote those.) But one thing never changed–I still prefer the historical novels, as shown by a short list of my read and reread and rereread faves:

Georgian (Jacobite Revolution/Bonnie Prince Charlie era)–Patricia Veryan’s Golden Chronicles are the absolute best. In fact, I’d have to say she’s my all-time favorite romance author, though Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander is excellent.

Regency–Again, Patricia Veryan (August Falcon almost rivals Mr. Rochester, but to say that is close to blasphemy.) Marion Chesneyanother favorite, though her stories started to repeat themselves after the first dozen or so.

Elswyth Thane’s Williamsburg series–the first two, Dawn’s Early Light and Yankee Stranger are superb. The others aren’t.

Madeline Brent–mystery, intrigue, exotic historical locations, and romance in perfect proportion. Check out Golden Urchin and The Long Masquerade if you can find them.

While writing this post, I discovered several things:

1. I don’t remember being all that interested in history before I started reading historical romances. About the 5th or 6th grade though, I developed a deep love of history. I went to college to study historical preservation (I ended up an international affairs major, but in that I still could take a load of history classes). I moved to Virginia, because the past still lives and breathes here (and because the British Isles weren’t a viable option. Pout). In Virginia I met my husband.

2. Imitation sometimes turns into something more. About the 8th grade I started to write my own historical romance (set during the Civil War, of course). A teacher read part of it, and encouraged me to continue working on it…which I did for the next 15 years. A writing career became a dream of mine.

3. Rereading the series as an adult, I realized that I could, and did, write better than some of these published authors. That thought helped me finally finish writing An Uncivilized Yankee. Even though it’s still unpublished, I consider myself a real author.

And here I am, 20 years after reading Jessica: A wife, a mother, a Virginian, a writer. Would my life have taken the same pathway had I not fallen in love with historical romances? Possibly. Then again, maybe not.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 20th, 2005 at 12:01 am and is filed under Book Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.