Harlequin Mills & Boon Birthday Celebrations!

by the Harlequin Editorial Team

Editors Linda Fildew and Jenny Hutton

As most of you probably know by now, Mills & Boon is officially 100 years old! It’s been an incredible year of birthday celebrations – if only all birthday parties carried on so long and had so many great treats (maybe it’s the prerogative of reaching 100!)
 
And what better way to celebrate with readers than an exhibition charting the evolution of the brand that has been so loyally supported, and the books that have been so voraciously read over the years? So, that’s just what Mills & Boon have been busily collating – with the help of archivists, expert enthusiasts and of course the support of the dedicated authors – to showcase the editorial that has captured the imagination of many for a century.

This month the exhibition launched at Manchester central library, before it travels around the UK, with a glittering party to toast the opening night. Mills & Boon were there in full force, with a group from the London offices, including Sally Williamson, Jenny Hutton and Linda Fildew from the editorial department. Also attending were Presents authors Kate Walker, India Grey and Kathryn Ross, Medical author Gill Sanderson, plus Sarah Mallory and Annie Burrows who write for Historicals. It was a fabulous turn out and in true Mills & Boon style there were some bonafide alpha males to lead us on a tour back in time to 1908 when the first Mills & Boon Arrows in the Dark, (prophetically a romance!) by Sophie Cole, was published.

The exhibition then continued on to show the development of Mills & Boon from 1908 – 2008, alongside the changing role of women and social and sexual mores in 20th Century Britain.
 
As we moved from one exhibit to the next we could see the evolution of the covers, titles and style of the books and the development of the editorial. The fascinating history of the company was then charted through the decades.
 
In the 1920s The First World War stimulated the desire to “escape” with a good book and the demand for Mills & Boon novels was up, mainly from libraries.

During the depression years of the 1930s, reading became a favourite form of escapism and romantic novels were again in great demand. Mills & Boon concentrated on hardback romance which, due to their distinctive brown binding, became known as the “books in brown”.
 
World War II made the appetite for romantic fiction stronger than ever. Mills & Boon authors were influenced by the times, with heroes in the services and heroines joining in the war effort.

In the ‘50s Mills & Boon novels swung away from the harsh realities of the war to escapist-fantasy. The focus was on careers in glamorous pilot-stewardess romances and nurturing nurse-doctor stories.

By the swinging 60s sex between husbands and wives was commonplace in Mills & Boon novels, though it was more euphemistic than explicit in its description. The company now published eight romance series titles a month.

Then, in the 1970s, Canadian company Harlequin and Mills & Boon merged and the world became aware of romantic fiction as a literary force. The books were now published in Holland, France, Germany, the Scandinavian countries as well as in Australia and New Zealand.

As we moved into the 1980s we saw there was open sexual awareness as heroes and heroines faced more emotional obstacles on the path to fulfilment. By the end of the decade six different Mills & Boon romance series had been established.

Then in the 1990s Mills & Boon novels ranged from compelling romances with international settings to sensual, racy books. Heroines were as liberated as they chose to be and more assertive in their attitude to men. By the same token, the assumption that the hero was Prince Charming had gone – he had to earn the respect of his heroine!

 
Author India Grey and “Leo Christakis,” Greek Billionaire

Bringing us into 2000+ Harlequin Mills & Boon has been part of Britain’s staple literary diet during the 20th Century and currently publishes more than 60 romance titles every month!

So as we reached the present day, and our wonderful alpha male hosts bid us farewell for their next tour group, we were able to admire the stunning surroundings of the library, one of Manchester’s most famous and best-loved landmarks, before nibbling on a canapé, and making a toast to Harlequin Mills & Boon. Here’s to the next 100 years!

India Grey, Kate Walker, Bethan Hilliard, Jenny Hutton