PERHAPS A GIFT VOUCHER FOR MUM?: MOTHER'S DAY
"(1939 - 2007) Kathleen E. Woodiwiss, creator of the modern historical romance, died July 6, 2007 in Minnesota. She had just turned 68. Her attorney, William Messerlie, said that she died after a long illness. Born on June 3, 1939 in Alexandria, Louisiana, Mrs. Woodiwiss was the youngest of eight siblings. She long relished creating original narratives, and by age six was telling herself stories at night to help herself fall asleep. At age 16, she met U.S. Air Force Second Lieutenant Ross Woodiwiss at a dance, and they married the following year. She wrote her first book in longhand while living at a military outpost in Japan. Woodiwiss is credited with the invention of the modern historical romance novel: in 1972, she released The Flame and the Flower, an instant New York Times bestseller, creating literary precedent. The Flame and the Flower revolutionized mainstream publishing, featuring an epic historical romance with a strong heroine and impassioned sex scenes. ""Kathleeen E. Woodiwiss is the founding mother of the historical romance genre,"" says Carrie Feron, vice president/editorial director of William Morrow and Avon Books, imprints of HarperCollins Publishers. Feron, who has been Woodiwiss''s editor for 13 years, continues, ""Avon Books is proud to have been Kathleen''s sole publishing partner for her paperbacks and hardcover novels for more than three decades."" Avon Books, a leader in the historical romance genre to this day, remains Mrs. Woodiwiss''s original and only paperback publisher; William Morrow, Avon''s sister company, publishes Mrs. Woodiwiss''s hardcovers. The Flame and the Flower was rejected by agents and hardcover publishers, who deemed it as ""too long"" at 600 pages. Rather than follow the advice of the rejection letters and rewrite the novel, Mrs. Woodiwiss instead submitted it to paperback publishers. The first publisher on her list, Avon, quickly purchased the novel and arranged an initial 500,000 print run. The novel sold over 2.3 million copies in its first four years of publication. The success of this novel prompted a new style of writing romance, concentrating primarily on historical fiction tracking the monogamous relationship between a helpless heroines and the hero who rescued her, even if he had been the one to place her in danger. The romance novels which followed in her example featured longer plots, more controversial situations and characters, and more intimate and steamy sex scenes. ""Her words engendered an incredible passion among readers,"" notes Feron. Bestselling author Julia Quinn agrees, saying, ""Woodiwiss made women want to read. She gave them an alternative to Westerns and hard-boiled police procedurals. When I was growing up, I saw my mother and grandmother reading and enjoying romances, and when I was old enough to read them myself, I felt as if I had been admitted into a special sisterhood of reading women."" New York Times bestselling author Susan Elizabeth Phillips, a leading voice in the women''s fiction arena, says, ""We all owe our careers to her. She opened the world of romance to us as readers. She created a career for us to go into."" The pioneering author has written 13 novels over the course of 35 years, all New York Times bestsellers. Kathleen E. Woodiwiss''s final literary work, the upcoming Everlasing, will be published by William Morrow in October 2007. ""Everlasting is Kathleen''s final gift to her fans,"" notes Feron. Kathleen E. Woodiwiss, who was predeceased by her husband and son Dorren, is survived by sons Sean and Heath, and numerous grandchildren."
The spunky but uncommonly pea-brained heroine of Woodiwiss' new, endless, 640pp. bodice-ripper is raven-tressed Erienne Fleming - who, in 1792 Northern England, is about to be married off by her foul, gambling, boozing father. And when Erienne turns down suitor after suitor, then tries to run away, Papa Fleming decides to auction her off! So: will the buyer/husband be newly-arrived Yankee shipbuilder Christopher Seton, a gorgeous hunk who both enflames and infuriates Erienne? (He wounded her feckless brother in a duel.) No, it won't - because the highest bidder is mysterious, masked, lame Lord Saxton . . . who has just suddenly re-surfaced at the Saxton estate after supposedly surviving a nasty fire. Poor Erienne, then, winds up at the cold, drafty estate - still in nostalgic heat for Christopher, too repelled by Lord Leather-Mask to allow the marriage to be consummated. (While breathing heavily, Lord S. agrees to separate bedrooms - for a while, anyway.) And Erienne remains faithfully virginal - resisting advances from slimy Lord Talbot and from lascivious Christopher (who keeps showing up only - hint, hint - whenever Lord S. is not around). Finally, however, after a particularly on-the-verge wrestling session with persistent Christopher, Erienne decides to submit to kindly Lord S. at last - with spectacular soft-core-porn results . . . though it will then take another 100 pages or so before she starts figuring out that Christopher and Lord S. seem to have an odd interchangeability about them. (A dum-dum to the core, Erienne doesn't even get the right idea when she spots the same scar on both men's backs.) And in the last, anti-climactic section Erienne is abducted by - and rescued from - some Saxton-family enemies, who have forced Lord S. to become the vengeful, anonymous Night Rider. In short (which is definitely not Woodiwiss' style): a dull, jaw-droppingly inane cross between Beauty and the Beast and The Adventures of Zorro - but a virtually pre-sold trade-paperback commodity nonetheless, considering the success of Ashes in the Wind, Shanna, etc. (Kirkus Reviews)
