Valley of the Vapours

Set in Hot Springs (Garland County), Valley of the Vapours is a romance novel written by American author Janet Dailey. It concerns an independent-minded young woman from Little Rock (Pulaski County) who evades marriage by escaping to her aunt’s cabin in Hot Springs. Originally published in 1976 (with an ebook released in 2014), it is part of a chain of romances by Dailey called the Americana Series, with each love story set in one of the fifty states. Valley of the Vapours is the entry for Arkansas. With Dailey’s original publisher being based in London, England, the variant British/Canadian spelling of “vapours” is used throughout the book.

Since her first book, which was published in 1974, the novels of Janet Dailey have sold more than 325 million copies worldwide and have been translated into nineteen languages in almost 100 countries. For decades, the prolific author was one of the top-selling female authors in the world, writing more than 150 books. Apart from single stand-alone novels, Dailey’s works include the Aspen series, the Calder series, and the Cord and Stacy series. Twenty-one of her novels appeared on the New York Times bestseller list, and she was known for addressing controversial contemporary issues in her stories. She died in 2013.

The controversial issue in Valley of the Vapours, set in the 1970s, is the women’s liberation movement, which was in full flower at the time. After Dailey and her husband retired, they traveled throughout the United States, inspiring Dailey to write the Americana series.

Valley of the Vapours concerns a headstrong young woman named Tisha Caldwell, who feels that her father has been over-protective since the death of her mother. Although she is twenty years old, he becomes irate if she comes home late from a date, or when he suspects she has gone so far as to kiss a boy. When the father sees Tisha in an embrace with a young man, he decrees that they must wed.

The feisty heroine, not ready to be tied down in marriage, flees to Hot Springs, a place with which she is barely familiar. (Up to this point, apart from a mention of the Old State House, there are few local references to Little Rock that would differentiate the Arkansas-based romance from other states.) Things begin to percolate on Tisha’s drive to the Spa City. The novel introduces her “spinster” Aunt Blanche, who is dressed in “bright red slacks and equally bright red and white flowered blouse,” a possible nod to the Arkansas Razorbacks whose colors are red and white. On Tisha’s way into Hot Springs, she encounters Roarke Madison, whom she describes as arrogant, while also noting “the strength of his jawline, chiseled cheekbones and nose…and sensual line of his mouth.”

In return for helping repair Tisha’s car, he asks her out on a date; she dislikes him but agrees. At this point, the book begins to provide Arkansas references as Roarke fills her in on the history of the region. First, he characterizes the Valley of the Vapours as “sacred to all tribes. They came here in peace to bathe their sick and wounded in the springs.” Roarke utilizes the metaphor of neutral ground to suggest a truce with Tisha.

As autumn was “beginning to make its vivid mark on the forested Ozark hills” (the author failing to distinguish the Ozarks from the Ouachita Mountains), Roarke adds a brief history of Arkansas going back to the explorations of René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle in 1682. He shares the scientific theory of the thermal water in Hot Springs and also mentions Crater of Diamonds State Park in Murfreesboro (Pike County).

The book’s blurb states that “in the rough country of the great state of Arkansas, Tisha must balance her need for liberation with the love beginning to grow in her heart.” As Valley of the Vapours moves toward its conclusion, the balance she reaches is revealed.

For additional information:
Daily, Janet. Valley of the Vapours. New York: Open Road Media Romance ebook, 2014.

Janet Dailey. https://janetdailey.com/ (accessed November 20, 2024).

Massie, Sonja, and Martin Greenberg. The Janet Dailey Companion: A Comprehensive Guide to Her Life and Her Novels. New York: HarperCollins, 1996.

Regis, Pamela. A Natural History of the Romance Novel. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2007.

Nancy Hendricks
Garland County Historical Society