PBS documentary explores the world of romance novels

PBS documentary 'Guilty Pleasures' looks at the romance novel – one of the most popular literary genres on the planet.

Once every four seconds, somewhere in this world, someone is buying a romance novel.

A new documentary airing on PBS will examine the universe of romance novels – a genre so beloved that one is sold every four seconds somewhere on the planet – by talking to those who write them, love them, and (in one case) poses for them.

While they’ve made headlines recently with E L James’ phenomenally popular trilogy “50 Shades of Grey,” romance novels have been a booming industry for decades and are unique in the fact that most of them are produced by two companies (which have ties to one another), the publishing company Harlequin in the U.S. and Mills & Boon in Britain. The documentary “Guilty Pleasures” originates in Britain.

The documentary focuses on are three devoted romance novel readers: women from different corners of the globe who are major fans of the books. Shirley is a British mother who is married but turns to the romance novels to find excitement she feels is lacking in her own relationship, while Indian Shumita married her husband young, but is now separated from him. Japanese wife Hiroko yearns for the fantasies depicted in the novels.

“Guilty Pleasures” also follows romance author Gill Sanderson, a British citizen whose real name is Roger and who takes pride in his craft as a romance writer, and a model named Stephen who has appeared on more than 200 covers released by Mills & Boon and Harlequin but wants a relationship of his own.

The movie will premiere on PBS on July 12 on the series “POV.”

Molly Driscoll is a Monitor contributor.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to PBS documentary explores the world of romance novels
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/Books/chapter-and-verse/2012/0517/PBS-documentary-explores-the-world-of-romance-novels
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe