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Maeve Binchy and Joanna Trollope have been presented with Lifetime Achievement Awards for their contribution to romances, as the Romantic Novelists' Association marked its 50th anniversary.
The winners were announced today (16th March) at the RNA’s Pure Passion Awards lunch in London, hosted by critic and TV personality Barry Norman. It marks Trollope's second win from the RNA, having picked up Romantic Novel of the Year award for Parson Harding's Daughter in 1980.
She said: “I am amazed and thrilled to be given this, and so touched, too. Of course it means a lot in itself, but it means even more to me because I have such admiration and respect for the RNA, which must be one of the most professional and supportive of literary associations around, as all its aspiring writer members know, and of course, I was one of them, once... So my pleasure and gratitude are very heartfelt."
Binchy, who received her prize in Ireland, was presented with her gong in recognition of "the joy she has given to millions of readers around the world".
She said: "I’ve always admired the Association because it’s managed to make us believe that stories are important and that we can get lost in the lives of other people."
The two remaining awards - Romantic Novel of the Year and Love Story of the Year - went to Lucy Dillon’s Lost Dogs and Lonely Hearts (Hodder & Stoughton) and Nell Dixon’s Animal Instincts (Little Black Dress) respectively.
Katie Fforde, chair of the RNA, said: "These Pure Passion Awards have enjoyed a higher standard of entries than ever before but the judges were unanimously won over by Lucy Dillon and Nell Dixon, whose character development and storylines kept us hooked to the very last page."
Several new awards were introduced this year to mark the special 50th event: the Romantic Film of the Year, The Romantic Comedy Award and The People’s Choice Award and The Harry Bowling Prize for New Writing were included in the RNA ceremony for the first time.
Jane Costello's The Nearlyweds (S&S) won the Romantic Comedy Novel award.