Bodice Ripper Readers Anonymous discussion

After I read Jeanine's great review of Forever Amber, which she referred to as "the grandmother of the Bodice Ripper," it got me thinking. I know The Flame and the Flower and Sweet Savage Love started the era, but really there were books published long before that had BR elements.

I have Duel in the Sun, which was published in 1944 and made into a memorable movie starring a hunky Gregory Peck. Duel in the Sun is also referred to as Lust in the Dust.

And of course, there is the Angelique series, but those were written over a thirty year period, I think.

Doe any one have any recommendations?

Bodice rippers could conceivably go back to the early 1900s and Elinor Glyn's romances, like His Hour, Three Weeks, and scads of others. She was very prolific, and her books were simply scandalous back in 1900-1910. There's a scene in Three Weeks, I think, where the heroine and hero make out on a bed strewn with lilies or gardenias. (Three Weeks refers to the length of their affair.) There could be arranged marriages, cheating, intrigue, revolutions (in fictional Ruritanian kingdoms), lots of blue blood, and contrived situations that drive the hero and heroine together or apart. Super tame now, and downright flowery, but the elements are there and the couple I've read have been a trip.

In the 20s several of her books were made into movies when Valentino made smoky alpha male lovers all the rage.

His Hour (1924) with John Gilbert & Aileen Pringle


It was also Glyn who said Clara Bow had "It." (She also said the same of cowboy star William S. Hart's horse, Fritz, so YMMV!)

I think several of Glyn's titles are on Google Books full view, so definitely worth a look. Oh gosh, I hope I still have my Photoplay edition of Beyond the Rocks...it's got photos from the movie with Gloria Swanson and Valentino.

Karla this exactly what I was looking for. Thank you! I love it when I discover little gems I never knew existed. Would it be fair to say that Glyn is to the Bodice Ripper as Heyer is to the Regency?

I have adored Valentino in Four Horseman of the Apocalypse, an of course the Sheik, so I'll search for his movies of Glyn's adaptations.

Again, many thanks!

Yeah, it probably would be fair to make the Glyn-Heyer parallel. Heh, never thought of that!

Oh, I'm such a Valentino fangirl. The only Glyn one he made was Beyond the Rocks, which just happens to be on DVD now. Flicker Alley released a bunch of Valentino movies, including Moran of the Lady Letty, which is about a girl disguising herself as a boy at sea and a lecherous captain who finds out and of course Valentino is the hero. :) If you like him, you should also check out Blood and Sand, The Eagle (Catherine the Great era), and Son of the Sheik. Cobra is a modern story, but is still good (and funny - he did have a knack for comedy). The Conquering Power is excellent, but not on DVD (alas!) TCM shows it occasionally, though.

AFAIK, His Hour and Three Weeks still exist, but haven't been released on DVD. But for other Valentino-like lovers, John Gilbert is awesome, and his movies of Monte Cristo and Bardelys the Magnificent are on DVD as well. As for bodice-ripping silent movies, I mentioned this in another thread, but Flesh and the Devil with Gilbert and Greta Garbo (also on DVD). THAT is some steamin' lust right there.

Also Ramon Novarro, who was more like the beta heroes of today. He played Ben-Hur quite heroically, but also did movies like Across to Singapore and The Pagan ( great South Seas romance) playing sweet heroes, and also period swashbucklers like The Prisoner of Zenda and Scaramouche.

Oh, and how could I forget John Barrymore! Don Juan, The Beloved Rogue, When a Man Loves (the Manon Lescaut story), Tempest, Beau Brummell.... All period pictures, all grand emotions and lovin'.

Sorry, got my silent film nerd impulse into overdrive here... :P If anyone has Netflix, look into some of these. They have many many silent films!

Wow! Thanks Karla! I ran right over to Amazon as soon as I saw this to download His Hour, Three Weeks and Elizabeth Visit's America all for free for my Kindle! Oh I love my Kindle! I have found myself reading more classics than I ever used to because, well why not? They are free!

I have not read this yet so I don't know if it really qualifies as having bodice ripper elements but I recently picked up To Have and To Hold by Mary Johnston (again free classic for my Kindle) because it seemed to have that BR "epic" feel. And check out the cover! Looks like romance and adventure to me!

Free Kindle books? Yay!!!!!

Danielle "The Book Huntress" wrote: "Free Kindle books? Yay!!!!!"

It's the best! If you are not lucky enough to have a Kindle and are comforitable reading on your PC you can download the Kindle for PC for free and read all these great old public domain books that way! I think they have a free Kindle for IPhone app too.

Did you see The Sheik by EM Hull is free on Kindle? I think it's great you can download the Kindle software for PC. I splurged and bought a Kindle DX a couple of months ago. Great investment!

Danielle "The Book Huntress" wrote: "Did you see The Sheik by EM Hull is free on Kindle? I think it's great you can download the Kindle software for PC. I splurged and bought a Kindle DX a couple of months ago. Great investment!"


Sure did, I have that one in my que as well. Some others I have and will be reading sometime this year that I got for free: Pamela: Or Virtue Rewarded, North and South, Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, Emma,The Merry Adventures Of Robin Hood, Little Women, A Room With a View... Love it!!!

Wow! Great minds think alike. I think I need to put ARWaV on my Kindle. I loved the movie!

FYI I am going to move this thread to the "Help Looking For..." folder

Karla, you are an amazing source of information. I really have to pace myself now as I have so many books TBR and now movies to watch! I don't mind the film history lesson at all. Silent films and Golden Age cinema has a massive appeal for me.

I've never seen the silent version of Blood and Sand, but did see the one starring Tyrone Power and Rita Hayworth, and unfortunately the one starring Sharon Stone. Thanks again!

Jennefer wrote: "FYI I am going to move this thread to the "Help Looking For..." folder"


Sorry Jennefer, I should have figured that would be the right place to post this! :)

Wendy wrote: "Sorry Jennefer, I should have figured that would be the right place to post this! :)"

Not a problem :)

Jennefer, I have a 1970s reprint of Mary Johnston's The Long Roll (massive Civil War story) with a romancy cover, but it's originally from 1912. There's no smut as we know it, but it's probably a solidly researched Civil War historical with a romance integral to the story.

To Have and To Hold was turned into a play in the late 1890s(??) and two movies were made of it in the late teens and early 20s. The later one was adapted by Basil Rathbone's wife, Ouida Bergere.

I feel like a silent movie Rain Man. :P Now that the memory's been jogged, there are many costume silents - When Knighthood Was in Flower (Mary Tudor), Dorothy Vernon of Haddon Hall (Elizabeth I), Old Ironsides (War of 1812, I think), and I could go on and on, oh yes and Douglas Fairbanks' swashbucklers...Zorro, The Black Pirate, 3 Musketeers/Man in Iron Mask, Robin Hood, Thief of Baghdad. If you think Gladiator spawned a lot of ye olde historical epics, the silent era was packed full of 'em on a regular basis, but talkies killed them for awhile because of microphone logistics. They got stagey and static, but by the time of Anthony Adverse, Captain Blood, and GWTW, they were back in fine form again.

I've got an ereader - very primitive (.txt files), but gutenberg.org has most of these public domain titles in .txt, so I'm golden. :)

This isn't a book, but I was listening to the opera "Tosca" today and now I'm seeing everything through the BR prism. :P

Villain is profane (sings about raping the heroine during a church service) - CHECK
Villain is powerful and allowed to dabble in his kinks without reprisal - CHECK
Hero is involved in dangerous activities - CHECK
Hero gets beaten and tortured - CHECK
Villain tells heroine he will save the hero if she gives him some sugar - CHECK
Heroine kills when forced into a corner - CHECK
An elaborate plot goes awry - CHECK

The only way it's not a true bodice ripper is that both hero and heroine die, and so does the villain. This IS an opera after all LOL. But it's one of my favorite operas ever just because it's so grand and passionate. It was called vulgar when it premiered back in 1900, which is all I need to make me love it. :D And now it's standard repertory all around the world. Hah! Philistine critics.

I don't know if this site has been mentioned elsewhere, but here are public domain titles available for download in a myriad of formats. I haven't tested any yet, so I don't know if there are any bugs, conversion issues, etc.

Manybooks.net - Romance Category

The synopses of this woman's books sounds promising.

Ethel May Dell

Karla wrote: "The synopses of this woman's books sounds promising.

Ethel May Dell"

Some of those do look promising! I will have to check her out! Thanks Karla!