DETAILS

Title: Exotic romance

Categories:

Romance

Location: Ann Hurley, Touch Of Greatness; Silhouette Special Edition (1983) Isobel Chace, The Clouded Veil; Harlequin (1976) Kate Hoffman, Jacqueline Diamond, Jill Shalvis, Paris Or Bust!; Harlequin (2003)

Pagination: 0

Illustrations: - foreign setting - mysterious foreign hero - element of fantasy and passionate escape

Document Type: Graffiti

Notes:

Exotic romance is primarily classified by setting, and elements of the exotic can often be found in other subgenres of romance as well. These books are wonderfully escapist, lavishing in the atmosphere of foreign lands, and the excitement of foreign men. Like the heroine, readers can cast off their ordinary selves and try out bolder and more daring personae. The exotic romance is an exercise in lving vicariously, complicated only be the difficulty of returning home. This necessitates either the domestication of the hero or the permanent transition of the heroine. Acknowledging that both of these situations may be somewhat implausible, the novel may instead take the character development approach, such that the heroine gains a new outlook based on her exotic experiences that she can apply to an improved life at home. (Ed. Note: All the images in this genre were scanned from books held in the CRC Humanities Computing Studio collection.)