It just so happened that a friend of my dad’s, worked for the publishing company. I’m sure he chose this segue into the conversation about marriage because the females in the Froats family were known to read a ton of these slim novels. This was part of sage advice offered by my father when I was in my early twenties. This year, Harlequin books, which publishes 1,200 new titles annually, reported first quarter earnings up more than 13 percent.If the title of this blog was accurate to the statement I remember from the past, it would state “Laura, life is not a Harlequin Romance”. "It seems to work the books certainly sell." "It is interesting that you have men imaging female desire," she said. He's so truncated that all you're doing is looking at the object of desire, his masculinity."Īlthough Harlequin romances are predominantly written for and read by women, according to Semmelhack, the majority of the publisher's cover illustration artists have been male. "Today, covers might just be the undressed male body. "By the time you hit the sexual revolution and passion becomes of primary importance on these covers, then that lover's embrace in many ways signals the happy ending right there on the front of the book."Īnd in recent decades, the once revolutionary depictions of the lovers' raw embrace have been reduced further. That doesn't happen until the late '70s and into the '80s," she said. "From the earliest covers, there's sort of an implied sexual tension, but there isn't much direct imaging of passion. Where cover art used to hint at psychological intrigue, it's grown to instead promise a passionate physical conclusion.
The illustrations have changed their tone over the years. "You don't know, is the couple going to get together? Is the hero going to save the heroine? The happy ending is not on the cover," Semmelhack explained. Many early Harlequin covers, like that of Elizabeth Houghton's "Island Hospital," in which a man, woman and grizzly bear stand poised in confrontation, depict more than one (fully clothed) character in the crux of a suspenseful moment.
There are women who are adventuring around the world before independence is really part of women's culture." "There are images of women doctors before women were really embraced by the workplace. "Rather than being retardataire, many of these images are extremely cutting edge," she said. Watch the curator discuss some favorites » "I pawed through literally thousands of paintings," curator Elizabeth Semmelhack said, adding that she saw apparent shifts in women's historical desires began to emerge. The Harlequin exhibit comes from boxes and boxes of old novels that employees discovered at the company's headquarters in Toronto, Canada. The organization says more than a quarter of all books sold are romance novels, satisfying 51 million readers every year. Romance fiction is responsible for $1.375 billion in book sales every year, according to Romance Writers of America. "I guess they change with the times, but they still have that same allure and that same passion behind them."Īs sort of a 60th anniversary gift to its faithful readers, Harlequin is displaying original artwork for its covers in an New York exhibit called "The Heart of a Woman: Harlequin Cover Art 1949-2009."Īnd before you sniff disdainfully at romance novel art, be reminded: That artwork sells a lot of books. "There's usually good-looking males on the covers or something intriguing to make you want to read more," she said.
Those covers also seduced Winnipeg, Canada, teacher Louann Bergen. "It's always great to feel like you're the girl in the book and the handsome guy is coming to rescue you," said Liz Lenz, 25, who has been reading Harlequin novels since she was a teen.