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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Research for this book was carried out in the context of the project “The Politics, Aesthetics, and Marketing of Popular Women’s Fiction: History, Exoticism and Romance” (FFI 2016-75I30-P), funded by the Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad (MINECO), the Agencia Española de Investigación (AEI), and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

I should particularly like to express my gratitude to the principal investigator in said project, Professor Paloma Fresno Calleja from the University of the Balearic Islands (Spain). No one like her has ever supported all my “funny” ideas, even those that include bonnets slapped on covers.

I am likewise grateful to the romance writers who kindly agreed to answer my questions via email, thus allowing me to gain a better understanding of their work: Mary Ellis, Lyn Cote, Edith Maxwell and Sue McCracken.

Thanks are equally due to several scholars who have helped me revise, edit and improve my manuscript a great deal. First and foremost, to Laura Vivanco, “una burgalesa ausente” like myself whose generosity can only be compared to her extensive knowledge of the romance genre and to her superb editing skills. I am also indebted to Farah Mendlesohn, from Staffordshire University (U.K.), who revised an early version of my manuscript, and to Thomas Hamm, from Earlham College, Indiana, because with his expertise in Quaker history he helped me comprehend the complex evolution of Quakers in America and discern the presence of anachronisms in the romances I have studied. I would also like to thank Ruth Bottigheimer, former professor at Stony Brook University who was raised as Quaker, for sharing with me invaluable insights into historical Friends.

To Sue Friday, a Friend from the Berkeley Meeting, California I owe more than I can express. She patiently clarified all my questions concerning Quakerism when I first started reading about the Society of Friends and had little understanding of their beliefs and practices. She also shared with me several articles that have illumined my comprehension of the allure of Quakers in popular culture. And she invited me to a Meeting for Worship which I will never forget.

Finally, to Mario Francisco, my non-Quaker hero, I want to say something in plain speech: thank thee for listening to all my yarns, and for thy support throughout the journey.