We love getting all sorts of fanmail, but sometimes, emails from readers really blow us out of the water. This email comes from Deb, who wanted to share photographic evidence of the first romance novel she read:
I am a huge fan of your blog and the HABO feature in particular. Unfortunately, despite the fact that I don’t recall anything about the first romance novel that I read – quite precociously — in the fall of 1960 (which apparently turned my world upside down), a simple search revealed that I was reading Surgical Nurse (described at the Vintage Nurse Romance Novels site—who knew?) as follows:
By Rosie M. Banks (pseud. Alan Jackson), ©1959
Cover illustration by Bob AbbettNurse Althea Jones, young and lovely, worshiped her boss, Dr. Mike. He was a brilliant surgeon. Handsome—and married. So Althea did not admit—even to herself—that she loved him. But the day came that shattered her life. Dr. Mike leaned down and kissed his pretty nurse. Not a friendly kiss but one filled with unleashed passion. Then he recovered his control and the moment was over—for him. But for her, that was a moment of beginning. How could she forget, ever, the pressure of his lips on hers? How could she ever marry anyone else, knowing that her heart belonged to him? She knew it was hopeless. But there had to be a way, somehow, somewhere, someday!
My mom is reading Special Nurse by Lucy Agnes Hancock. Truth be told, I got my start in romances reading Barbara Cartland (who creeped me out with her virginal heroines and evil villains), but quickly progressed to Emilie Loring.
Hope these pictures put a smile on someone’s face.
Oh don’t worry, Deb, they definitely did!
Adorable, absolutely adorable!
My first smile of the morning. Thank you!
Blankets, warmth, and romance novels for all!
I’m going to add a whole level of nerd to this. I loved the reader’s adorable pictures, but what really made me sit up straight was the mention of the author, Rosie M. Banks. Rosie is a character from the comic novels of P.G. Wodehouse, who describes her work as “the most pronounced and widely-read tripe on the market.”
Rosie has her own Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosie_M._Banks
Look at that smile! Thanks for sharing.
Big, big smile on this face.
Super adorable! Thanks for sharing 🙂
OH this is so perfect! I’m a recently outed (proud) romance reader and this website is giving me all sorts of life! I love everything here, the friendships, the love you all show to one another and HABO!
This post definitely put a big smile on my face!
I wish I had kept the bag of nurse romances my mom had from the 60s. She gave them to me to read because they weren’t controversial for a middle schooler to read. lol I left them when I moved out to get married. A lot of the heroines were named Althea. lol