I just couldn't resist this! Way back in the 1960s, we had a weekly magazine in the UK called TitBits, which was full of all sorts of goodies, including stories - a bit like Gateway Monthly, in fact..... As a young teenager, I was frequently "looked after" by my Aunt and Uncle until my Mum finished work, and they had a vast collection of thrilling paperbacks, authors such as Mickey Spillane and so on. It was there I first read that most erotic of novels, Burton Wohl's A Cold Wind in August - just the stuff for a 13-year old to tuck into after a hard day at school! They also had this weekly magazine, TitBits, in which I remember reading the serialisation of book one of Angelique: Marquise of the Angels, by Sergeanne Golon, whom I later discovered to be two people, Serge and Anne Golon.
The 
book was a real hit, about a young heroine in Paris in the time of Louis XIV. A terrific read, and it spawned more than a dozen sequels - I read them all, and now I'm hoping to start collecting them again. When I embark on a quest of this sort, I start off with a Google or a Yahoo search, then check back a few days later. Initially I found a reasonable site with a deal of information, then when I checked back, I found this site, worldofangelique.com which appeared during the first few days of November. It's a fantastic site. Anne Golon is still alive and living in Paris, but Serge died in 1972. There are interviews with Anne, summaries of all of the books, a gallery on its way, and all sorts of other stuff - Angelique is not just romantic, it's a slice of history, one of those books that helps you get to grips with what was actually happening at the time. I just hope my EBay bid pans out OK! If you've never read Angelique, try to get hold of the first two books - great entertainment, great reading! Here's a brief introduction to the first book, Angelique: Marquise of the Angels:
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Angélique: Marquise of the Angels
The book begins in 1648 during a time of insurrection, terror and revolt in a divided France. Angélique de Sance de Monteloup, a vibrant twelve-year-old tomboy, is the daughter of a simple nobleman impoverished by taxes and the worries of looking after his many children, retainers and the peasants who rely on the lord of the manor for protection.
Angelique joins the local peasant children in their games, ranges the ancient forests and swamps of Poitou, and takes charge when bandits visit destruction and rapine on the humble villagers.
By chance, while visiting influential relatives with her father, who is there to plead for patronage, she foils a plot to poison the young king, Louis XIV, who is battling for his throne.
Later, sent to complete her education with the nuns, she comes across the future St Vincent de Paul, and returns a beautiful young 17-year-old to hear that her father has arranged a marriage tha
t will provide her family with a handsome dowry and Angélique with a suitable match.
Horrified to learn that her husband to be, the Comte de Peyrac de Morens, Lord of Tolouse, is twelve years older than her, disfigured, lame, and has a reputation as a magician with a penchant for dissolute habits, Angélique reluctantly agrees to marry him for the sake of her family.
Frustrated in an attempt to experience true love at least once with her childhood friend Nicholas, she is married but is determined to kill herself rather than submit to the embraces of such a monster.
Yet she is somewhat taken aback when, on her wedding night, Joffrey de Peyrac, realising she is terrified of him, does not insist upon his conjugal rights, but instead determines to win her through the art of courtly love.
Fascinated in spite of herself, Angélique gradually realises the true depths of this remarkable man - a poet, artist, scientist, raconteur, swordsman and a great lover of life.
Taking a keen interest in his revolutionary scientific experiments, she realises she loves him and becomes threatened by the artifices of the Archbishop of Tolouse, who believes Joffrey is an alchemist who has discovered the secret of the transmutation of gold.
By now the young Louis XIV has secured his throne. Joffrey and Angélique, as the lord and lady of Tolouse, attend Louis' wedding to Marie-Therese of Spain, and accompany the wedding party to Paris, along with their young son, Florimond.
But Joffrey is arrested in the night and disappears. Unwilling to surrender to the threats and bribes of the power brokers determined to destroy Joffrey, a pregnant Angélique braves all, including a confrontation with the jealous Louis XIV, in order to save Joffrey from oblivion, and to win his acquittal of the charges of witchcraft levelled against him.
As the forces of evil try to separate Joffrey and Angelique, she risks everything to save him, and the book climaxes in the decision of the court, its horrific aftermath and the traumatic birth of Joffrey's second son, Cantor.
