REFERENCE

Encyclopedia of Romance Fiction

Greenwood. Sept. 2018. 400p. ed. by Kristin Ramsdell. bibliog. index. ISBN 9780313335723. $94; ebk. ISBN 9780313054051. LIT
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In her 2012 Romance Fiction: A Guide to the Genre (2d ed.), largely directed at fellow librarians and readers' advisors, LJ romance columnist Ramsdell (librarian emerita, California State Univ., East Bay) examined the history and appeal of romance fiction, readers' advisory, collection development, and types of romance fiction and core authors. Now, in this A-Z encyclopedia, she's gathered 48 subject specialists (many of them librarians but also literary scholars, and publishers, editors, authors, and others), who contribute short essays on 125 aspects of romance fiction. While other reference books provide biographical information on many more individual romance writers and their works, Ramsdell focuses on types (from alternative reality to women's fiction and YA), important authors (from Jane Austen and Elinor Glyn to Mary Stewart and Janet Dailey), common themes and literary devices (the Cinderella plot pattern, language in romance), and romance publishing and awards, beginning with a full list of entries.
VERDICT Librarians, literary and popular culture students and scholars, and genre devotees will appreciate this well-written, well-edited volume of diverse recommendations.
Reviewed by Marcia G. Welsh, Dartmouth Coll. Lib., Hanover, NH , Dec 01, 2018
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