Thrill of the Chaste: The Allure of Amish Romance Novels

Erscheinungsjahr 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4214-0891-0
Verlag: Johns Hopkins University Press

Buch, Englisch, 344 Seiten, Format (B × H): 152 mm x 228 mm, Gewicht: 472 g

Reihe: Young Center Books in Anabapti

Take a peek beneath the bonnet.

Browse the inspirational fiction section of your local bookstore, and you will likely find cover after cover depicting virtuous young women cloaked in modest dresses and wearing a pensive or playful expression. They hover innocently above sun-drenched pastures or rustic country lanes, often with a horse-drawn buggy in the background—or the occasional brawny stranger. Romance novels with Amish protagonists, such as the best-selling trailblazer The Shunning by Beverly Lewis, are becoming increasingly popular with a largely evangelical female audience. Thrill of the Chaste is the first book to analyze this growing trend in romance fiction and to place it into the context of contemporary literature, religion, and popular culture.

Valerie Weaver-Zercher combines research and interviews with devoted readers, publishers, and authors to produce a lively and provocative examination of the Amish romance novel. She discusses strategies that literary agents and booksellers use to drive the genre’s popularity. By asking questions about authenticity, cultural appropriation, and commodification, Thrill of the Chaste also considers Amish fiction’s effects on Amish and non-Amish audiences alike.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Weaver-Zercher, Valerie

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Literarische Gattungen
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Mentalitäts- und Sozialgeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Christentum, Christliche Theologie Christliche Kirchen, Konfessionen, Denominationen Andere und Moderne Christliche Glaubensgemeinschaften
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Spezielle Soziologie Religionssoziologie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Preface
Acknowledgments
1. Slap a Bonnet on the Cover
2. The DNA of Amish Romance Novels
3. An Evangelical and an Amishman Walk into a Barn
4. Taking the Amish to Market
5. Is Amishness Next to Godliness?
6. An Amish Country Getaway
7. Virgin Mothers
8. Amish Reading Amish
9. Something Borrowed, Something True
10. Happily Ever After
Bibliography
Index

Über Autor(innen)

Weaver-Zercher, Valerie
Valerie Weaver-Zercher is a writer and editor whose work has been published in the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Christian Science Monitor, Mennonite Weekly Review, and elsewhere.

Valerie Weaver-Zercher is a writer and editor whose work has been published in the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Christian Science Monitor, Mennonite Weekly Review, and elsewhere.