This study to analyzes romantic fiction's depiction of women as part of the broader history of ideas about women.; Given the success of the Mills & Boon romance, their portrayal of subjects like sex, love, marriage, class, motherhood and femineity are important cultural barometers and make interesting study.; The author shows how all these themes have an historical trajectory and how these novels have come to reflect feminist concerns.; Based on a study of over 1000 Mills & Boon romances the book provides analysis of plot types and shows how these have changed in response to women's own changing position within society.

Table of Contents:

Introduction: Mills & Boon have a happy knack of discovering the popular author; Chapter 1 A Short History of Mills & Boon ? A very profitable small firm; Chapter 2 Reader, Author, Editor ? Many hours of pleasant reading; Chapter 3 1910s ? Society and Exotic, City and Country; Chapter 4 Hero ? You brought me to life; Chapter 5 Heroine ? Mirror Image; Chapter 6 War and Aftermath ? You give me redemption; Chapter 7 Work ? The smothering of the creative spark ? could he a sort of murder; Chapter 8 Sex ? We got all the damned foreplay over with months ago; Chapter 9 Love and Marriage ? Harbour of desire; Chapter 10 Feminism ? I?m not a feminist, but ?;