Passion's Legacy

Literature & Fiction

Paige, Lori A.

Genre Fiction

The Naiad Press

The late 1960s and early 1970s saw the birth of modern feminism, the sexual revolution, and strong growth in the mass-market publishing industry. Women made up a large part of the book market, and Gothic fiction became a higher popular staple. Victoria Holt, Mary Stewart and Phyllis Whitney emerged as prominent authors, while the standardized paperback Gothic sold in the millions. Pitched at middle-class women of all ages, Gothics paved the way for contemporary fiction categories such as urban fantasy, paranormal romance and vampire erotica.
 Though not as popular today as they once were, Gothic paperbacks retain a cult following--and the books themselves have become collectors' items. They were also the first popular novels to present strong heroines as agents of liberation and transformation. This work offers the missing chapters of the Gothic story, from the imaginative creations of Ann Radcliffe and the Bronte sisters to the bestseller 50 Shades of Grey.

The Gothic Romance Wave: A Critical History of the Mass Market Novels, 1960-1993

History & Criticism

McFarland Company

Few stories capture the unique interplay of critical theory, mass media and public taste better than the story of the Spasmodics. These earnest, youthful and largely self-educated neo-Romantics hoped to become prophets who would influence literary society on a grand scale. From about 1850 to 1860, the Spasmodics successfully cast a long shadow over virtually every serious discussion of Victorian poetry. Many mid-nineteenth-century writers, including Tennyson, both Brownings and Matthew Arnold, were either adherents or outspoken detractors of the Spasmodic School. This work is an attempt to document, in the appropriate social context, the trajectory of the Spasmodic School in both its original incarnation and in subsequent appraisals. Examining the various personalities and aesthetic principles that fashioned the movement, it does not champion any particular critical stance or verdict. The scholarly apparatus contained within cites a number of competing Victorianist interpretations, approaches and judgments with varying degrees of expertise.

The Spasmodic Poets: Appraising a Controversial School of Victorian Literature

McFarland

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Books by Paige, Lori A.