Ann Herendeen
Encyclopedia
Ann Herendeen is an American author of popular fiction. A native New Yorker and lifelong Brooklyn resident, Herendeen (who identifies as bisexual) holds a degree in English from Princeton University
.
Herendeen's novels are notable for their queer
ing of the traditional Romance novel
.
which otherwise obeys many of the conventions of genre romance
. The heroine Phyllida, an author(ess), offers the hero a quid pro quo of "irregular" liberty in marriage - his sexual freedom for her literary and professional freedom. The novel delivers the generically required account of the development of the couple's erotic and tender bonds through trials to deep and permament commitment, while Phyllida's authorship supplies Herendeen's text with a beloved metafictional feature of postmodern genre romance: a racy, romantic novel-within-the-novel, exploring forbidden sexuality in the fashionable manner of the era. Passages of Phyllida's fiction are rendered as pastiches of the great Gothic tradition (e.g. Charles Maturin
, Ann Radcliffe
, Matthew "Monk" Lewis, Clara Reeve
, Mary Shelley
) the language and conventions of which are at once gently mocked and avidly relished.
According to Herendeen:
McDaniel College's Pamela Regis, author of A Natural History of the Romance Novel and one of the leading academic authorities in the expanding field devoted to the study of genre Romance, brings forward Phyllida and the Brotherhood of Philander as evidence against what she contends is the myth of the genre's fundamentally socially reactionary nature. In her article in the new edition of The Cambridge History of the American Novel, Regis argues:
contribution to the immense catalogue of mash-ups, sequels, fan fiction
, retellings, updatings, spin-offs and homages to Jane Austen's
celebrated novel
. Pride/Prejudice narrates Austen's original story unearthing the "forbidden" intimacies between Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley and between Elizabeth Bennett
and Charlotte Lucas. Salon's
reviewer Laura Miller noted that Herendeen's language in Pride/Prejudice is the most successful of the Austen derivatives in "approximating Austen's style without aping it."
The novel was 2010 Lambda Literary Award
finalist in the category "bisexual fiction" category.
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
.
Herendeen's novels are notable for their queer
Queer
Queer is an umbrella term for sexual minorities that are not heterosexual, heteronormative, or gender-binary. In the context of Western identity politics the term also acts as a label setting queer-identifying people apart from discourse, ideologies, and lifestyles that typify mainstream LGBT ...
ing of the traditional Romance novel
Romance novel
The romance novel is a literary genre developed in Western culture, mainly in English-speaking countries. Novels in this genre place their primary focus on the relationship and romantic love between two people, and must have an "emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending." Through the late...
.
Phyllida and the Brotherhood of Philander
Herendeen's first novel Phyllida and the Brotherhood of Philander was initially issued by a subsidy publisher with the subtitle A Bisexual Regency Romance, in 2005. When Harper Collins released a slightly altered version of the book in 2008, the subtitle was replaced by: A Novel (bland and superfluous, but a convention of titling in the Regency era). Herendeen's innovative book introduces a central same-sex love story - an infusion of modernity that is in many ways truer to the moeurs of the period than those depicted in most pulp historical novels - into a Regency-set tale of a marriage of convenienceMarriage of convenience
A marriage of convenience is a marriage contracted for reasons other than the reasons of relationship, family, or love. Instead, such a marriage is orchestrated for personal gain or some other sort of strategic purpose, such as political marriage. The phrase is a calque of - a marriage of...
which otherwise obeys many of the conventions of genre romance
Romance novel
The romance novel is a literary genre developed in Western culture, mainly in English-speaking countries. Novels in this genre place their primary focus on the relationship and romantic love between two people, and must have an "emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending." Through the late...
. The heroine Phyllida, an author(ess), offers the hero a quid pro quo of "irregular" liberty in marriage - his sexual freedom for her literary and professional freedom. The novel delivers the generically required account of the development of the couple's erotic and tender bonds through trials to deep and permament commitment, while Phyllida's authorship supplies Herendeen's text with a beloved metafictional feature of postmodern genre romance: a racy, romantic novel-within-the-novel, exploring forbidden sexuality in the fashionable manner of the era. Passages of Phyllida's fiction are rendered as pastiches of the great Gothic tradition (e.g. Charles Maturin
Charles Maturin
Charles Robert Maturin, also known as C.R. Maturin was an Irish Protestant clergyman and a writer of gothic plays and novels.-Biography:...
, Ann Radcliffe
Ann Radcliffe
Anne Radcliffe was an English author, and considered the pioneer of the gothic novel . Her style is romantic in its vivid descriptions of landscapes, and long travel scenes, yet the Gothic element is obvious through her use of the supernatural...
, Matthew "Monk" Lewis, Clara Reeve
Clara Reeve
Clara Reeve was an English novelist, best known for her Gothic fiction work The Old English Baron .Reeve was born in Ipswich, England, one of the eight children of Reverend Willian Reeve, M.A., Rector of Freston and of Kreson in Suffolk, and perpetual curate of St Nicholas...
, Mary Shelley
Mary Shelley
Mary Shelley was a British novelist, short story writer, dramatist, essayist, biographer, and travel writer, best known for her Gothic novel Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus . She also edited and promoted the works of her husband, the Romantic poet and philosopher Percy Bysshe Shelley...
) the language and conventions of which are at once gently mocked and avidly relished.
According to Herendeen:
McDaniel College's Pamela Regis, author of A Natural History of the Romance Novel and one of the leading academic authorities in the expanding field devoted to the study of genre Romance, brings forward Phyllida and the Brotherhood of Philander as evidence against what she contends is the myth of the genre's fundamentally socially reactionary nature. In her article in the new edition of The Cambridge History of the American Novel, Regis argues:
Pride/Prejudice
Herendeen's second novel Pride/Prejudice is a "slash"Slash fiction
Slash fiction is a genre of fan fiction that focuses on the depiction of romantic or sexual relationships between fictional characters of the same sex...
contribution to the immense catalogue of mash-ups, sequels, fan fiction
Fan fiction
Fan fiction is a broadly-defined term for fan labor regarding stories about characters or settings written by fans of the original work, rather than by the original creator...
, retellings, updatings, spin-offs and homages to Jane Austen's
Jane Austen
Jane Austen was an English novelist whose works of romantic fiction, set among the landed gentry, earned her a place as one of the most widely read writers in English literature, her realism and biting social commentary cementing her historical importance among scholars and critics.Austen lived...
celebrated novel
Pride and Prejudice
Pride and Prejudice is a novel by Jane Austen, first published in 1813. The story follows the main character Elizabeth Bennet as she deals with issues of manners, upbringing, morality, education and marriage in the society of the landed gentry of early 19th-century England...
. Pride/Prejudice narrates Austen's original story unearthing the "forbidden" intimacies between Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley and between Elizabeth Bennett
Elizabeth Bennett
Elizabeth Bennett may refer to:* Elizabeth Bennett , Canadian judge* Elizabeth Bennett , English television actress* Elizabeth Ann Bennett, , American television actress* Eliza Bennett, English child actress, * Betty T...
and Charlotte Lucas. Salon's
Salon.com
Salon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...
reviewer Laura Miller noted that Herendeen's language in Pride/Prejudice is the most successful of the Austen derivatives in "approximating Austen's style without aping it."
The novel was 2010 Lambda Literary Award
Lambda Literary Award
Lambda Literary Awards are awarded yearly by the US-based Lambda Literary Foundation to published works which celebrate or explore LGBT themes. Categories include Humor, Romance and Biography. To qualify, a book must have been published in the United States in the year current to the award...
finalist in the category "bisexual fiction" category.