Dangerous Books For Girls: The Bad Reputation of Romance Novels, Explained

Long before clinch covers and bodice rippers, romance novels had a bad reputation as the lowbrow lit of desperate housewives and hopeless spinsters. But why were these books€"the escape and entertainment of choice for millions of women€"singled out for scorn and shame? Dangerous Books for Girls examines the secret history of the genre€s bad reputation€"from the €œdamned mob of scribbling women€ in the nineteenth century to the sexy mass-market paperbacks of the twentieth century€"and shows how romance novels have inspired and empowered generations of women to dream big, refuse to settle, and believe they€re worth it. For every woman who has ever hidden the cover of a romance€"and every woman who has been curious about those €œFabio books€€"Dangerous Books For Girls shows why there€s no room for guilt when reading for pleasure.