08-11-2008, 12:11 PM
The gothic setting and gothic prose are more important to me over the romance.
I'm currently reading Blackwood Farm by Anne Rice which is Gothic to it's very core, but the romance element is bottom of the barrel and totally unbelievable. Maybe she was writing the romance subplot as a parody, who knows?
When I was younger I read most of Victoria Holt, Mary Stewart, and Barabara Michaels. I have re-read some of their books during the past ten years. Victoria Holt to me isn't very Gothic, and Barbara Michaels isn't very romantic. Maybe it was the era in which they were written, or the fact that the quality of their writing is what keeps these books in print after 30-50 years, but to me the romance element in these books is not very noticable as it is with more contemporary writers such as Danielle Steele, Norah Roberts, Sandra Brown and their school of writing. It's there, and is an integral part of the overall plot, but the books don't come across as "love porn".
I'm currently reading Blackwood Farm by Anne Rice which is Gothic to it's very core, but the romance element is bottom of the barrel and totally unbelievable. Maybe she was writing the romance subplot as a parody, who knows?
When I was younger I read most of Victoria Holt, Mary Stewart, and Barabara Michaels. I have re-read some of their books during the past ten years. Victoria Holt to me isn't very Gothic, and Barbara Michaels isn't very romantic. Maybe it was the era in which they were written, or the fact that the quality of their writing is what keeps these books in print after 30-50 years, but to me the romance element in these books is not very noticable as it is with more contemporary writers such as Danielle Steele, Norah Roberts, Sandra Brown and their school of writing. It's there, and is an integral part of the overall plot, but the books don't come across as "love porn".
