Wednesday, December 14, 2011

My New Book - For Love and Money: The Literary Art of the Harlequin Mills & Boon Romance


I'm very, very pleased to be able to announce that my new book, For Love and Money: The Literary Art of the Harlequin Mills & Boon Romance is now available.

Since this isn't a time for modesty, I'll share my back-cover quotes:
"Laura Vivanco's For Love and Money is an impressive study of the popular fiction of Harlequin Mills and Boon that is a must read for any student of popular fiction and for those who write and love the genre" - Liz Fielding, author of over 50 Harlequin Mills & Boon romances.
"Deep learning, wide reading, and clear thinking are very much in evidence in Vivanco's exploration of HM&B. A welcome addition to popular romance criticism." - Professor Pamela Regis, author of A Natural History of the Romance Novel.
"Laura Vivanco’s For Love and Money is the book that scholars and fans have both been waiting for: a deft, attentive introduction to the Harlequin Mills & Boon romance novel as a work of art. [...] Vivanco traces the connections between these books and the classical myths and medieval romances they so often deliberately echo, and she shows how the novels use allusion and metatextual reflection to defend their genre. (“Scorn not the sonnet,” Wordsworth warned in a sonnet—Harlequin Mills & Boon novels have long taught readers to “scorn not the romance.”) Vivanco’s conversation with earlier critics, from the 1930s “Battle of the Brows” through 21st century scholars like Pamela Regis, is lively, engaging, and good-humored, and she has a remarkable eye for the textual details that bring each novel to life. I am profoundly impressed." - Professor Eric M. Selinger, author of What Is It Then Between Us? Traditions of Love in American Poetry.
My publisher, Humanities Ebooks, is (as their name suggests), an academic e-press, and the book is available from their site as a pdf. This is a format that deals particularly well with footnotes. A Kindle edition is also available at Amazon .at .com .de .es .fr .it and .uk .

HEB has teamed up with Lulu so that paper copies can be printed on demand. Lulu's preview of the table of contents and the introduction is embedded below.



A brief summary of each of the chapters and a list of the HM&B romances cited, can be found at my website.
Posted by at Wednesday, December 14, 2011
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17 comments:

  1. Sunita14 December, 2011 23:03

    Congratulations, Laura! Can't wait to read it.

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  2. Sandra Schwab14 December, 2011 23:13

    Fantastic news, Laura! Huge congrats! I'm thrilled to bits for you, and I'm also thrilled to bits that this is coming out just in time to be included in the revisions for the published version of my dratted diss. :)

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  3. Laura Vivanco14 December, 2011 23:49

    Thanks, Sunita! I hope you enjoy it.

    Sandra, in the book I don't have a lot to say about dragons (although I do mention some dragon-heroes) or knights (although I do mention some of them, too) but hopefully there'll be enough in there that's relevant to the topic of your dratted diss.

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  4. Merrian14 December, 2011 23:51

    I am looking forward to reading your book Laura. Congratulations!

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  5. Anonymous15 December, 2011 00:15

    Congratulations Laura! I've already bought it and it looks wonderful on both my Kindle and iPad. I can't wait to read it!

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  6. Laura Vivanco15 December, 2011 00:33

    Thanks, Merrian.

    Jessica, that's very good to know because although I've I've had a look at the pdf and paper versions, I don't have a Kindle or an iPad, so I didn't know how those editions had turned out. I hope you think the contents come up to the high standard set by the typesetting/formatting!

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  7. Michelle Douglas15 December, 2011 04:29

    Congratulations, Laura!

    I've just ordered it and can't wait to read it. It sounds fabulous!

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  8. Anonymous15 December, 2011 05:51

    Congratulations, Laura! I just purchased it on my Kindle. I'll be getting the print copy, too!

    Gwen Pough

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  9. Jo Beverley15 December, 2011 12:56

    Congratulations, Laura.

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  10. Laura Vivanco15 December, 2011 13:45

    Thanks Michelle, Gwen and Jo.

    Once you've read it, I'd love to know what you think of it. Well, perhaps "love" isn't exactly the right word: a cross between anticipation and trepidation might be a more apt way of describing how I'm feeling about the possibility of reviews.

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  11. Sandra Schwab16 December, 2011 17:24

    Can I just add that I'm thrilled to pieces that you've included a mention of me and my baggy dragons in the acknowledgments? :)

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  12. Laura Vivanco16 December, 2011 18:27

    How could I not mention them? Since one of my fellow musketeers was out slaying them, and another was engaged in caging paratexts (I imagine they're very like parakeets), the least I could do was be inspired by their industry and get on with organising my rosebed.

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  13. Joanna Chambers16 December, 2011 20:30

    Yay! Congratulations!

    The cover looks wonderful.

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  14. Remittance Girl18 December, 2011 02:14

    Congratulations, Laura!

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  15. Laura Vivanco18 December, 2011 09:11

    Thanks Jo and Remittance Girl, and Jo, I'm particularly glad you think that about the cover given that I designed the image (as I discuss on this page).

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  16. lynneconnolly18 December, 2011 16:58

    Congratulations, and may you sell a million copies.

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  17. Laura Vivanco19 December, 2011 23:53

    Thanks, Lynne. That would be nice ;-)

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