Bravo! Fantastic tribute to Denys, bodice rippers & readers.
While the Silver Devil captivates me, I've always preferred the Flesh and the Devil--it's one of my all-time favorite romances-- simply because that happy ending is more believable than the Silver Devil, as Duke Domenico was such a crazed megalomaniac I couldn't see his people tolerating his rule for much longer.
And I second what you said here:
"It’s a patronizing sentiment that buys in to two lies: that progress is linear, and that depiction can only ever equal endorsement."
It disheartens me when I hear people who rightfully oppose book banning then turn around and denounce these types of romances. Fiction is not a facsimile of reality, like dreams it functions as a method of recollecting and analyzing what we observe. In fiction we are free to go to the darkest depths that we would never conceive of in real life. And in doing so, it is cathartically therapeutic. Really fantastic article that I'm going to bookmark.
On my blog I reviewed The Silver Devil and have a page dedicated to Bianchi. I found some information from the Romantic Novelists Association, which wasn't much admittedly, but it gave me more insight into her life. She was a brilliant woman by all accounts with a great sense of whimsy. Thank you so much for writing this up. I'm delighted to have found your Substack!
I love the way you write
Bravo! Fantastic tribute to Denys, bodice rippers & readers.
While the Silver Devil captivates me, I've always preferred the Flesh and the Devil--it's one of my all-time favorite romances-- simply because that happy ending is more believable than the Silver Devil, as Duke Domenico was such a crazed megalomaniac I couldn't see his people tolerating his rule for much longer.
And I second what you said here:
"It’s a patronizing sentiment that buys in to two lies: that progress is linear, and that depiction can only ever equal endorsement."
It disheartens me when I hear people who rightfully oppose book banning then turn around and denounce these types of romances. Fiction is not a facsimile of reality, like dreams it functions as a method of recollecting and analyzing what we observe. In fiction we are free to go to the darkest depths that we would never conceive of in real life. And in doing so, it is cathartically therapeutic. Really fantastic article that I'm going to bookmark.
On my blog I reviewed The Silver Devil and have a page dedicated to Bianchi. I found some information from the Romantic Novelists Association, which wasn't much admittedly, but it gave me more insight into her life. She was a brilliant woman by all accounts with a great sense of whimsy. Thank you so much for writing this up. I'm delighted to have found your Substack!