Sex or romance? A hundred years of fiction...

 Never let sex get in the way of a good romance. That was the view of Ida Pollock, the world's oldest writer of romantic fiction,  who died  this week aged 105.  Using several pen names, including Pamela Kent, Rose Burghley and June Beaufort, Mrs Pollock wrote 125 novels which she described as 'full of hope and romance rather than sex...'

The men are normally rich, but never vulgar with their money,' she told The Times earlier this year. 'An older man is essential to provide the reassurance the heroine needs.  There's always turbulence before he sweeps in to save the day.'

Mrs Pollock's daughter, Rosemary, added: 'My mother is interested in exploring relations between a man and a woman on many levels. She would never reduce it to basic primitive sex.'

Ida admitted that many of her  heroes were based on her late husband, Colonel Hugh Pollock who, interestingly,  was once Sir Winston Churchill's  editor.

The author's strong beliefs echo those of the late Dame Barbara Cartland who wrote more than 700 books in her lifetime. Famous for her 'hearts and flowers' approach to romance, Barbara  never changed the format of her books, or her belief that this type of escapism was what women really wanted.

Here is an excerpt from A Nightingale in the Sycamore by June Beaufort, published 1957.

He moved to meet her as she moved to meet him and caught her in his arms, kissing her wildly, like a man who was starving. Her hair, eyes, cheeks, lips - he smothered them with so many kisses that before long he paused to draw breath himself. She was completely breathless but clung to him as if never willingly would she let him go again.


I wonder what E L James would make of that?


 

Fifties love affairs, a 'famos ritter' and a fairweather award - it must be Tuesday...

A children's author who sells a book every seven seconds in Britain  today admits that many of her readers have no idea how to spell.

Dame Jacqueline Wilson receives several hundred fan letters every week from children in Eastern Europe, Spain and Portugal but it's the Brits who have the worst spelling and grammar. 'Sometimes it is unintentionally and sweetly funny,' she tells The Times today, citing 'I want to be a famos ritter,'
 as one of her favourites.

Particularly well-known for the famous Tracy Beaker series, the author believes in facing tricky subjects head-on, such as divorce, abuse and mental health issues.  Her huge success also makes her the most borrowed children's author from our public libraries in the last decade.

Talking of decades, I was amazed to read the other day of a 105-year-old author of romantic fiction who has two more titles coming out this year.  Ida Pollock began writing when she was fourteen and has produced 123 novels -  eight of them in one year alone.

Mrs Pollock prefers to write about the attraction between men and women  'full of hope and romance' as opposed to some of the more explicit sexual overtones found in novels today. She likes her heroes to be rich and preferably older, with the ability to 'sweep in and save the day.'

These days she dictates her stories to her 69-year-old daughter Rosemary, but says she will never tire of telling stories.

Interestingly, Mrs Pollock's late husband was once married to Enid Blyton.  She herself helped found the Romantic Novelists' Association which recently made her an honorary vice-president to mark her
105th birthday.

I wonder what Ida Pollock thinks of the enormous success of e-books? Or, for that matter of writing blogs like this one?  In this first week of summer weather so far I have been nominated for the Sunshine Blog Award by  Barbara at March House books, whose own blog is included in Tesco's top ten book blogs for children.

Thanks, Barbara (or Bobbie as she likes to be called.) I will be posting my own list of questions and answers, not to mention other nominees next time. In the meantime - here's to more sunshine!