Essays
Nurse Novels, by Bill Casey
Southwest Review 1964; 49(4):332-341.
I hope I will not be accused of an attempt to overstimulate
when I announce that I have discovered a new literary genre. It is the Nurse
Novel, and if sheer numbers mean anything, it is moving right up there with the
Western and the Mystery as a type. The day I discovered it, I bought two dozen
titles in a single magazine shop, at a total cost of $9.95. I have tried to
keep any resentment out of the report that follows.
...
Ring for the Nurse, by Susannah Clark
Imagine you’re
meandering through a country antique store when, back in the gloomier recesses,
you come across a small handful of 50-year-old paperbacks shoved onto the shelf
of a rickety bookcase. Exiled from the hidebound classics at the front of the
store, a title among this scraggly collection leaps out at you—is that book
really called Surf
Safari Nurse? You’re instantly captivated. Dude Ranch
Nurse, Nurse on Horseback, Cover Girl
Nurse, The Nurse and the Pirate—how can you
walk away from these neglected treasures?This is actually how I found vintage nurse romance novels, a very niche sector of the romance novel that was widely popular in the 1960s. Indeed, most romance publishing houses, even Harlequin, had a special catalog of nursing titles. Possibly a thousand or more of these books were published up through the 1970s, when they fell out of favor. I was so captivated by their antiquated charm that I now own more than 500 nurse novels, perhaps the largest collection in the world. I've even reviewed more than 325 for my blog, Vintage Nurse Romance Novels. ...
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