If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. It's free and a great way to keep up to date. Thanks for visiting!
Gothic romance is a genre you can’t find all too easily today. It was a popular genre a few decades ago and lovers of this romance sub-genre will have to troll secondhand bookstores to find titles. Classics of this genre are novels such as Wuthering Heights and Scarlet Letter. Well known authors of Gothic romance/horror include Ann Radcliffe of the past and Stephen King of the present.
A typical Gothic romance revolved around conflict and mysteries. It made the heroine choose between two male characters for love. One is bright, sunny, cheerful and charming. The other was dark, mysterious, secretive, and brooding. Plotlines of cursed leads and daring adventures took place on wind-swept moors, and places that were haunted. The heroine would embark on a thrilling journey to discover if her hero was worthy of love. Her task usually boiled down to find out if the hero really murdered his first wife, brother, mother, insert other relation.
It is interesting to note that Radcliffe introduced this brooding male as the Gothic villain, which developed into the Byronic hero. She is considered a pioneer of the genre. The movie Becoming Jane
As Gothic or dark romanticism developed it became more distinctly separated. The first direction of Gothic novels glorifies gore. The second took on the key aspects of modern romance. This new evolution made the focus on the romance instead of the mystery. These are the romances that disappeared after the eighties.
So what is a Byronic hero?
Trivia: The name of this hero comes from the English poet Lord Bryon.
The hero himself is highly intelligent, urbane, sophisticated and introspective. In other words he’s arrogant, mysterious, seductive, and moody (see bipolar). We see male figures like this all over, you could make the argument that Mr. Darcy is a Byronic hero on top of being a Regency hero, as Byronic heroes dislike social formalities and functions. Of course Mr. Darcy doesn’t have a troubled past or flippant air towards the wealthy and privileged, as he is one of that set. While Mr. Darcy was disliked he was not a complete social outcast and exiled from polite company. All these things are attributed to the Byronic hero.
What’s a good modern Gothic romance?
Some titles of the modern Gothic romance include: Bells of Widow’s Bay by Miriam Lynch, Castle Midnight by Evelyn McKenna, and Satan’s Rock by Marilyn Ross.
Authors to look for include (past and present authors): Victoria Holt, Dorothy Daniels, Theresa Weir, Phyllis Whitney, Barbara Michaels, Allison Knight, Mary Stewart, Joanna Challis, and Megan McKinney, Kay Hooper, Eve Silver… to name a few.
Trivia: In the 1980s Harlequin had an all Gothic line of books. See here for Gothic titles. Harlequin Intrigue also contains several titles that could satisfy your craving.
Originally posted 2008-09-24 15:10:30. Republished by Old Post Promoter
Related Posts -
Top 50 Romance Blogs, part 4 Today is part four of five in announcing the Top 50 Romance Novel Blogs. I hope you take the time to go to these blogs and see what they have to offer! And as always be sure to drop a... -
Review: Me and Mr. Darcy by Alexandra Potter Emily Albright is a 29 year old romantic whose first love was Mr. Darcy from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. This love affair started when she was 12 and no man has ever reached the bar that Mr. Darcy set.... -
Donna Lea Simpson on Gothic Romance I read a few gothic romances when I was much younger... you know, the kind with the cover that shows the girl running from a castle wearing a floaty dress. I keep getting, from readers and reviewers, that I write... - The Creative Inspiration of Jane Austen Today's article is a guest post written by Sharon Lathan, author of the Darcy Saga! It is such a thrill to be spending today on Love Romance Passion. Keira has been so gracious in allowing me two whole days (our...
- Erotic Romance, Not Just Erotica and Romance Today's article is by erotic romance author Cecilia Tan. Please join me in extending a warm welcome to her here at Love Romance Passion. Our tale begins in 1970, which is the year some point to as the beginning of...
Related Websites - Pandora teams with Energizer to offer forums, YOU can win a $20 Itunes Card If you're a person who loves music, you may end up with a basement that looks like mine: floor to ceiling milkcrates of those old dinosaurs, CDs. Most of them are my husband's ( I tend to be less careful...
-
Quick and Dirty Tips for Effective Corporate Blogging, pt 4 This is part four in our series about good tips for good corporate blogging. We have touched on three tips each in the first part, second part and third parts of this series. - Now here are another handful of... - Writing Romance / Vanessa Grant Genre: GuideSummary: Ever wanted to be a romance writer but had no idea where to start from? Then this is the book for you. Vanessa Grant, the author of 30 romance novels and a popular lecturer, takes you through all...
- Bellic and Johnson: The Slav and the Slave Another fourth edition worth mentioning is Grand Theft Auto 4 - actually six counting GTA: Vice City and San Andreas. Yet, practically four since GTA and GTA II were essentially crime themed Spy Hunter clones. Old gamers don’t die; they...
- Villa Montezuma: San Diego Villa Montezuma: San Diego Built in 1887 by Jesse Shepard, a famous opera singer, Shepard was known to hold seances in a special room at the center of his house. His peculiar hobby got him a one-way ticket to Europe...
- Gothic Romance Audio Books
- Gothic Romance Books
- 1990s to present Popular, by decade Sheet Music Sheet Music Song Books
- Love Romance Books
- Dark Horse By Publisher Modern Age 1980-Now Comics Collectibles
Categories:
About, Cursed Lead, Gothic, Jane Austen, Suspense/Thriller, Widow or Widower
Tags:
0 comments ↓
There are no comments yet...Kick things off by filling out the form below.
Leave a Comment