Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Polly, the Worried

Polly, the Worried by Katheryn Kimbrough
published by Popular Library
Copyright 1979

POLLY, THE WORRIED

is one of the spellbinding novels in the greatest
series of gothic romances ever conceived.
You won't want to miss the others,
all exclusively in Popular Library editions.

For many women the Phenwick name seemed a blessing
worth any sacrifice. But for lovely Polly Phenwick, it
was a curse she would do anything to escape. Polly was
born and raised a Phenwick, and from childhood on
every man she loved was struck down by violence and
death. Now when Polly looked into a mirror, she did
not revel in her beauty, but saw it as a trap to lure men
to their doom. Yet still they came, one after another,
refusing to heed her warnings and her pleas. How could
she save them? How could she save herself? As love
turned to self-loathing, the sighs to shudders, Polly
desperately tried to flee her Phenwick fate - and found
herself at the gates of a living hell...

"Soon to be a major TV series"? I would have totally watched that show! But I can't seem to track down if it ever actually came to be. Either way, apparently Katheryn Kimbrough's Saga of the Phenwich Women was a popular series, numbering at least 35 books (number 35 being Letita, the Dreamer) that I am aware of and inspiring an one online fan club here.

2 comments:

  1. Ahem ... I am only SLIGHTLY embarrassed to admit to owning the complete set of Phenwick books. The total number is 40. In all honesty these books are fantastically bizarre. Katheryn Kimbrough is actually the pen name of John Kimbro, who wrote a lot of gay books (including Daisies In a Chain and The Gay Circus)and there are just ... TONS of gay illusions all through the books that I (sadly) missed when I first read them as a little nipper. Now I read them and howl with laughter. Other highlights of the series include truly wonky dates (people's ages shift from book to book as he needed them to), stupendously odd dialog, overblown and overwrought stories and just generally dreadful writing. In case you can't tell, I adore them :D

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  2. Stephanie: Fantastic! I absolutely have to make time to read these. There is a little paperback exchanges out of state from me that looks to consistently have nearly all of them and I pick up a few every time we go to visit my husband's family. I think I have about half of them now.

    Great info on John Kimbro! I was unaware of the pen name or his other writing. It is going to make reading them WAY more fun!

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