And Then Their Hearts Stood Still: An exuberant look at romantic fiction past and present.

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn.FINE/FINE.No owner inscrptn, and no price-clip to dw/dj.Bright,crisp,clean,glossy laminated,coloured pictorial illustrated upper wrap with minimal shelf-wear and negligible creases to edges - no nicks or tears present - and corners NOT bumped.Head of spine/backstrip minimally bumped with reciprocal creasing,light creasing to top edge also.Top+fore-edges bright and clean; contents bright,tight and near pristine - appears an unread copy - no dog-ear reading creases to pages' corners.Bright,clean,plain green paper-covered boards with bright,crisp,blocked gilt letters to spine/ backstrip and immaculate plain white endpapers.UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn,1-322pp includes b/w line illustrated half-title+title pages,contents list,author introduction and 13 chapters. 'And Then Their Hearts Stood Still' looks at that most popular of genres,romantic fiction,from classics to comic-strips and women's magazine stories;from teenage and schoolgirl passions to the second (or third or fourth) - time-around affairs of older - if not necessarily wiser - women.Looking back to the themes initiated by writers in the 19thC,such as Jane Austen and the Brontes,and some luridly intriguing seduction tales,it traces the historical development of the love story,and the changing status of its heroines.As well as these traditional roles,the book looks at images of the overblown femme fatale and the 'other woman'.It considers responses to sexual attitudes and identities and how these change and differ,through the innocent raptures of Barbara Cartland to the occasionally shocking brutalities of Ethel M Dell and E M Hull;from the Gothic of Daphne du Maurier and Victoria Holt to the quasi-spiritual outpourings of Marie Corelli and Florence Barclay.While the genre is often seen as endorsing men's power over women,Mary Cadogan shows that it frequently reflects female domination over men,in 'taming the beast' tales from writers as distinct in style as D H Lawrence and Vera Brittain. In more recent years writers such as Frances Edmonds and Joanna Trollope in Britain,and Danielle Steel and Judith Krantz in America have taken this one step further and created truly feminist heroines.Questions are often asked about the relevance and future of the novel in general: 'And Then Their Hearts Stood Still' makes it clear that romantic fiction which has already rolled on relentlessly for some 200 years,seems set to continue its colourful momentum well into the 21stC and beyond. Please contact seller @ rpaxtonden@blueyonder.co.uk ,because of the weight/value of this item for correct shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas buyers - BEFORE ordering through the order page! ** N.B. ALL buyers please note,the stocks' actual shipping/P+p costs are adjusted and any difference is refunded,after order's receipt and before the order's despatch,especially if the item(s) are offered either P+p included/FREE. ** N.B. US/Canada customers please be aware: Standard AIRMAIL postage from UK to these destinations can now cost more than the price of any inexpensive book! If speed is not of the essence,then Economy rate is recommended - at approx. anything from a 1/3rd to 1/2 of the standard AIR quote/rate - sometimes arriving sooner than the 42 days - but not always.