| April 9, 2006 |
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The Dime Novel Project
Long  before Oprah brought sensational stories to the American masses, young 19th century ladies reveled in a world of sentimental fiction. After the U.S. Civil War, as literacy rose and book prices fell, cheap paperbacks catered to a new woman who wanted pleasant diversions after her long hours in the factory, just as her counterparts overseas did. Writers like Charlotte M. Brame specialized in hugely successful "mushy love stories for the English lower Classes." In the U.S., these dime novels outsold high-minded types like Nathaniel Hawthorne, who once complained, "America is now wholly given over to a dammed mob of scribbling women." He just couldn't compete with titles like "Lovers Once but Strangers Now," "The Fatal Kiss," and "The Man She Hated." The "highly wrought" fiction of Mary J. Holmes made her one of the most popular American authors of the day. And at least with these stories, you know they're fiction. (in Literature) |
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