Times
sure change! When many of these doctor and nurse romance stories
were first written, they were just considered "stories" for
women–there was no such thing as the "romance industry,"
with twelve major publishing houses publishing over 140 new
titles every month! No, these "little" books were made popular
and available by (what was then) a small reprint house in Canada,
Harlequin Books, who joined forces with (what was then) a small
British-based publishing company, Mills & Boon. Harlequin/Mills
& Boon discovered a market for these doctor and nurse stories
written by women for women, and the rest is history…
Doctor
and Nurse romances may have gone out of style for a while, but
popular TV shows like "ER," and "Chicago Hope" have whet readers
appetites for books featuring doctors and nurses, but with a
more modern twist: for starters, the hero isn't always the
doctor these days! Most of the contemporary romances on this
list are classics (some are 40 to 50 years old) and are some of
the very first books written in the romance genre. Readers won't be
surprised to find that although these classics may be out of
date, their appeal is timeless!
What's The Appeal?
When doctor and nurse romances
first appeared in the 1930s and '40s, becoming a nurse was one
of the few career opportunities available to women, besides
secretarial work and childcare. Nursing was a prestigious
profession, requiring a capable and intelligent young woman who
had the heart to dedicate her life to caretaking…unless,
of course, she met a husband.
Women today have much wider
career choices and opportunities. As a result, readers interest
in medical romances has dwindled over the past two decades.
Elizabeth Johnson, senior editor at Harlequin/Mills & Boon
(and editor of the Doctor & Nurse line), acknowledges that "in
the early books, several decades ago, the division was very
much between a lordly doctor and a subservient nurse. Now the
heroine is quite likely to be a doctor herself, and if not she
is likely to be a "charge nurse." That means her knowledge and
power often match that of the hero, so the opportunities for tension
and rapport are that much greater."
As Elizabeth says, "the
doctor is the only man legitimately allowed to put his hands on
you, other than the romantic man in your life. And although the
litigious have these days somewhat taken away the halo, the
fact remains that a doctor and nurse still have the knowledge
to save lives, sometimes in quite dramatic
circumstances–something the ordinary cannot do. It still
does engender a level of respect and interest that other careers
can't match."
Elizabeth adds that she doesn't think the interest
in medical romances ever really went away. "Perhaps the resurgence
in publishing and in television is a response to people's need
to feel that, whatever is happening in the world, medicine is
something that touches everyone's lives at some stage." We might not
feel in control of what is happening, she adds, but with the insight
that hospital-set romances and television programs provide, "we
have some understanding of it and feel that someone cares."
-Kate Ryan
|
Site Map
