Pink Think: “A historical romance is the only kind of book where chastity really counts.” – Barbara Cartland
photo by dan at freedigital.net
Just read Janette Rallison’s novel Just One Wish. My oldest had raved about it before, and I finally got around to reading it. What a delight. I laughed and got choked up all at the same time; it’s sweetly romantic in a believable way (amazing to pull it off when the main characters have known each other for only about 24 hours). Okay, so maybe parts of it were a bit over-the-top (animal wrangling disguise) but that was part of the fun.
Here’s another amazing book: the graphic novel Page by Paige by Laura Lee Gulledge. Each page illuminates a truth, in such a fresh and novel way. Example: cuddling a cat makes Paige feel like she has all these comforting arms around her. My oldest loved the illustrations so much she brought out her watercolors and did up a few little pieces in homage of this book.
Score! Two books that have made me a happy reader. (I have breezed through a number of books lately that I started but didn’t finish) Plus, they’re books my daughter and I can enjoy together – Bonus!
Okay, on to today’s (somewhat related) post!
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I have been revising a historical novel. It’s turned out completely different than when I started. My first draft, the female protagonist is more socially confident, more coquettish, more aggressive. This time, my protagonist holds back more and wants to be chaste.
I think the second version, with her not being as sexually aggressive, makes her more sympathetic, and is in keeping with sexual mores of turn-of-the-century Philippines (of course, that’s what I thought too about 19th century America, but Luxe turned that expectation on its head). I wonder if modern readers would appreciate a female protagonist that tries to be chaste?
Would YOU?
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