Historical romance is a broad category of mass-market fiction focusing on romantic relationships set in historical periods, a form that Lord Byron helped popularize in the early nineteenth century. The genre most often takes the form of the novel and remains a major category within romance publishing, combining a love story with a historical setting in a way that distinguishes it from historical fiction whose primary focus lies elsewhere.
Facts
Place of Origin Notable ExampleThe Flame and the Flower (1972) by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss, an early example that helped launch the modern historical romance market 1 Defining TraitA broad category of mass-market fiction built around a romantic relationship set within a recognizable historical period or era, spanning subgenres from Viking and Medieval to Regency, Victorian and Western settings 1 Defining Trait FAQs
What makes a romance novel a historical romance?
It is a romance set in the past that uses the historical facts and technology of its time.
A historical romance is a romance set in the past. It incorporates the historical facts and technology of the time and often features historic events and figures. Britannica notes that this genre includes novels published before 1950, so a romance can count as historical because of when it is set and also, in the older cases, because it was written in an earlier era.
Connections
Encompasses Form
Features Author
Source Georgette Heyer (Wikipedia)
Source Kathleen E. Woodiwiss (Open Library)
Form Of Genre
In the Other Atlases
Originated In
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject originated.
Sources
1. Wikipedia
Wikipedia- Place of Origin: England
- Notable Example: The Flame and the Flower (1972) by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss, an early example that helped launch the modern historical romance market
- Defining Trait: A broad category of mass-market fiction built around a romantic relationship set within a recognizable historical period or era, spanning subgenres from Viking and Medieval to Regency, Victorian and Western settings
2. Historical romance (Wikipedia)
Lead paragraph, defining sentence
Historical romance is a broad category of mass-market fiction focusing on romantic relationships in historical periods, which Byron helped popularize in the early 19th century.
Wikipedia: Historical romance, History - In England section
One of the first popular historical romances appeared in 1921, when Georgette Heyer published The Black Moth, which is set in 1751.
Wikipedia: Historical romance, History - In the United States section
The modern romance genre was born in America 1972 with Avon's publication of Kathleen Woodiwiss's The Flame and the Flower, the first romance novel "to [follow] the principals into the bedroom."
Wikipedia: Historical romance, lead section
Historical romance is a broad category of mass-market fiction focusing on romantic relationships in historical periods, which Byron helped popularize in the early 19th century.
View the SourceGeorgette Heyer (Wikipedia)
Features Author: Georgette Heyer, Lead section [in-genre 2]Quote, Features Author: Georgette Heyer, Lead section [in-genre 2]
Heyer essentially established the historical romance genre and its subgenre Regency romance.
Kathleen E. Woodiwiss (Open Library)
Features Author: Kathleen E. Woodiwiss, Author page biographyQuote, Features Author: Kathleen E. Woodiwiss, Author page biography
featuring an epic historical romance with a strong heroine
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