The Loss of an Icon

I was saddened to learn that Kathleen Woodiwiss passed away recently. For those of you who don’t know her, she WAS romance novels in the late seventies and eighties. The Wolf and the Dove, The Flame and the Flower, just to name a few. I’ve read them all and still have them on my keeper shelf. They were my mother’s romance novels and what my generation cut their teeth on. They’ve been dogged for years, called bodice rippers and worse, but for those of us who grew up reading them they were much more. Her characters were always strong, stood up for themselves (eventually) and were easy to fall in love with.

Kathleen Woodiwiss and authors like her ignored the lack of respect given to the romance genre and wrote for themselves and for us, the fans. The genre has evolved, changed with the times, but you can still pick up one of her books and fall in love all over again. She inspired a new generation of authors and fans and she will be sorely missed. My condolences to the family of Kathleen Woodiwiss.