Bonkbuster

Bonkbuster (a play on "blockbuster" and the verb "to bonk") is a term coined in 1988 by British writer Sue Limb to describe a subgenre of commercial romance novels in the 1970s and 1980s, as well as their subsequent miniseries adaptations.[1][2][3] In 2002 the Oxford English Dictionary recognized this portmanteau, defining it as "a type of popular novel characterized by frequent explicit sexual encounters between the characters."[1] In 2016 Jilly Cooper, who was called "the queen of the bonkbuster",[4] suggested that the term ought to be updated to "shagbusters" as "bonk" felt out-of-date.[5]

Genre history

Although the term has been used generally to describe "bodice-rippers" such as Forever Amber (1944) by Kathleen Winsor,[6] as well as the novels of Jacqueline Susann[7][8] and Harold Robbins,[9] it is specifically associated with the novels of Judith Krantz, Jackie Collins, Shirley Conran and Jilly Cooper, known for their glamorous, financially independent female protagonists and salacious storylines.[10] In particular, Krantz’s novel Scruples, which describes the glamorous and affluent world of high fashion in Beverly Hills, California, helped define the bonkbuster.[11] In 2023 former British prime minister Rishi Sunak revealed that some of his favourite books were bonkbusters in the Rutshire Chronicles series by Cooper.[12][13]

References

  1. ^ a b The Daily Telegraph, 18 February 2002 Accessed 11 November 2007.
  2. ^ Sydney Morning Herald, 19 June 2002 Accessed 11 November 2007.
  3. ^ "Bonk word that bust convention". The Guardian. 18 June 2002.
  4. ^ Moses, Claire (17 October 2024). "Jilly Cooper on Adapting Her Naughty Romance, 'Rivals,' for Disney+". The New York Times. Retrieved 22 January 2025.
  5. ^ Flood, Alison (10 September 2016). "Jilly Cooper: 'People were always coming up to us at parties and asking us to bed'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 7 April 2025.
  6. ^ "Observer review: Forever Amber by Kathleen Winsor". The Guardian. 27 July 2002.
  7. ^ "Sex in the suburbs: a history of the bonkbuster in six books". The Guardian. 28 July 2012.
  8. ^ Haines, Chris (1 October 1997). "Media Circus". Salon.
  9. ^ Cummins, Anthony (21 May 2016). "Harold Robbins's cocaine-fuelled bonkbusters sold 750 million copies—and they're far better than Fifty Shades". The Daily Telegraph.
  10. ^ "How the bonkbuster novel came to define a generation". The Independent. 17 August 2019.
  11. ^ "Judith Krantz, Novelist Who Wrote Tales of Sex and Shopping, Dies at 91". Bloomberg. 23 June 2019. Retrieved 24 June 2019 – via www.bloomberg.com.
  12. ^ "Britain's Rishi Sunak loves reading racy books about horses". Politico. 25 May 2023. Retrieved 16 January 2026.
  13. ^ "UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak loves a horsey 'bonkbuster.'". Literary Hub. 25 May 2023. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
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