Word: victoria
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...gothics," romantic suspense stories or romantic biography would be more descriptive. Under any heading, the genre comprises one of the few boom areas in a generally depressed publishing industry. In the past year or so, sales have almost doubled. Three notable examples-Mary Stewart's Crystal Cave, Victoria Holt's Secret Woman and Elizabeth Goudge's Child from the Sea -all spent a comfortable winter on the bestseller lists. For top gothics, paperback sales-the real and durable market-can run into the millions...
Women's romance was rediscovered as a really rich commercial prospect in the late '50s when sales of straight historical novels and detective stories sagged and publishers needed a new kind of formula entertainment to promote. Today the field is dominated by Victoria Holt, the most prolific writer, and Mary Stewart, the most accomplished. Right behind come such veterans of genteel fiction as Norah Lofts, Catherine Gaskin and Phyllis Whitney, the only American in this group who has a major reputation. Elizabeth Goudge tends toward "atmosphere" and romantic biography. There are newcomers coming along-Jill Tattersall, Jane Aiken...
...genre, the breakthrough book was Victoria Holt's Mistress of Mellyn (1960), which sold a million copies. Though it was in itself a touchingly direct tribute to Rebecca, Mellyn has become the model for many of the new romances. The plot concerns Martha Leigh, a young gentlewoman in reduced circumstances, who comes to a vast mansion in Cornwall to care for the motherless daughter of enigmatic Connan Tre-Mellyn. Even before Martha falls reluctantly in love with Connan, she learns that his wife's death was both scandalous and mysterious, that he is surrounded by neighbors with ambiguous...
After the house, the general setting is vital. Anywhere in Wales or Cornwall will do, and there is choice literary real estate in Scotland and Ireland. The trend, though, is toward more exotic places. Mary Stewart has been to Greece, Austria and Lebanon in search of fresh landscape. Even Victoria Holt, who built her career on familiarity with English history, has packed her bags; her next book will be set in Australia. Phyllis Whitney is just back from Norway with practical advice about scouting locales: "Islands are easy. You do your homework before going and get introductions from people like...
...must not suppose that all these ingredients are conjoined in cold blood. The best genre writers, like Victoria Holt and Phyllis Whitney, identify with their heroines. They also identify with their audience. It is not entirely coincidence, therefore, that like the Bronte sisters many gothic writers are products of a sequestered, lonely childhood with plenty of time for fantasy...