Romance novel
A romance novel or romantic novel is a genre fiction novel that primary focuses on the relationship and romantic love between two people, typically with an emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending. Authors who have contributed to the development of this genre include Samuel Richardson, Jane Austen, and Charlotte Brontë.
This article is about the type of genre fiction. For the novel titled Romance, see Romance (novel).
Romance novels encompass various subgenres, such as fantasy, gothic, contemporary, historical romance, paranormal fiction, and science fiction. Women have traditionally been the primary readers of romance novels, but according to the Romance Writers of America, 16% of men read romance novels.[1]
The term "romance" is also applied to novels defined by Walter Scott as "a fictitious narrative in prose or verse; the interest of which turns upon marvelous and uncommon incidents".[2][3] Related to this type of romance novel are works that "involves a mysterious, adventurous, or spiritual story line where the focus is on a quest that involves bravery and strong values, not always a love interest".[4] These romances frequently, but not exclusively, takes the form of the historical novel. Scott's novels are also frequently described as historical romances,[5] and Northrop Frye suggested "the general principle that most 'historical novels' are romances".[6]
A thriving genre of works conventionally referred to as "romance novels" existed in ancient Greece.[7] Other precursors can be found in the literary fiction of the 18th and 19th centuries, including Samuel Richardson's sentimental novel Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded (1740) and the novels of Jane Austen. Austen inspired Georgette Heyer, the British author of historical romance set around the time Austen lived,[8] as well as detective fiction. Heyer's first romance novel, The Black Moth (1921), was set in 1751.
The British company Mills & Boon began releasing romance novels for women in the 1930s. Their books were sold in North America by Harlequin Enterprises Ltd,[9] which began direct marketing to readers and allowing mass-market merchandisers to carry the books.
An early American example of a mass-market romance was Kathleen E. Woodiwiss' The Flame and the Flower (1972), published by Avon Books. This was the first single-title romance novel to be published as an original paperback in the US, though in the UK the romance genre was long established through the works of Georgette Heyer, and from the 1950s Catherine Cookson, as well as others. Nancy Coffey was the senior editor who negotiated a multi-book deal with Woodiwiss.
Strong sales of popular romance novels[10] make this the largest segment of the global book market.[11] The genre boomed in the 1980s, with the addition of many different categories of romance and an increased number of single-title romances, but popular authors started pushing the boundaries of both the genre and plot, as well as creating more contemporary characters.
Critical reception[edit]
Some important literary figures received critical acclaim for their romance novels. For instance, the Nobel laureate Gabriel García Márquez received critical praise for his romance novel Love in the Time of Cholera.[83][84]
Arthur Schopenhauer held that, if poets and novelists across continents have not stopped producing romance novels since millennia, it is because no other topic is more relevant and so the theme never gets old. According to Schopenhauer, romance/love is more important than other topics because it affects the species (not only the individual), in the sense that romance and partner choice is generally a prerequisite to have offspring and continue maintaining the human species in future generations of humankind.[85]
Despite recent rehabilitation and merging of the genre with other genres, there is sometimes a negative stigma with the romance novel. Some dedicated readers are embarrassed to admit to buying or even reading the books.[15] The romance genre has sometimes generated criticism. Some critics point to a lack of suspense, as it may seem obvious that the hero and heroine will eventually resolve their issues, and wonder whether it is beneficial "for women to be whiling away so many hours reading impossibly glamorized love stories."[15] According to fiction author Melissa Pritchard, a romance novel "perpetuates something slightly dangerous, that there's this notion, that there's this perfect love out there, and it can distract you from the work of loving yourself."[86]
Romance novelists attribute the stigma to the fact that romance is, according to some, a genre "written almost exclusively by women for women."[15] Romance novelist Jennifer Crusie counters that in the modern romance novel "a woman is rewarded with unconditional love [only] if she remains true to herself,"[57] while novelist Susan Elizabeth Phillips believes that romance novels are popular because the heroine typically wins, sometimes overcoming great odds so that she is no longer a victim.[87]
Peer-reviewed academic scholarship examining romance novels has increased enormously in the last few decades.[11] Scholars are analysing the significance and impact of the genre, increasingly from a feminist, gender and equity studies perspective.[11] The profile of the romance genre has also been raised by the financial and critical success of the adaptations of two successful series of novels: Outlander by Diana Gabaldon, and Bridgerton by Julia Quinn, by paid television network, STARZ[88][89] and streaming service, Netflix.[90]
Debates about whether these novels fall inside or outside the contemporary romance genre, and the extent to which they transcend the genre to be multi-genre, has received mainstream media attention in part due to Gabaldon's frequent and prominent assertions that her Outlander series is not Romance Fiction.[91][92] However, both scholarly analysis and the conversations between Gabaldon and her publisher about whether to market the books as romances, reveal that the discourse about genre labels is more nuanced.[93] In 2022, it was announced that the best-selling[94] "cult" Winston Brother series[95] by self-published "smart-romance"[96][97][98] author, Penny Reid, has been optioned for a television adaptation by Tomorrow Studios.[95][99]
Markets[edit]
North America[edit]
The romance fiction market "has been impervious to the overall economic recession, with faithful readers spending up to $40 a month" on romance novels in 1982.[12] That year, paperback romances totaled $300 million in sales, and the total audience was estimated at 20 million readers. A survey of 600 regular romance readers the same year "found that they mirror the general population in age, education, and marital and socioeconomic status." Over half of the women had at least some college education, and 40% were employed full-time. 60% of the women surveyed read at least one romance every two days. The women admitted to reading romances as an antidote to stress, for mental escape, and to learn about history and new careers.[149]
As of 1982 at least 25% of all paperbacks were romance novels;[150] by 1991, they comprised 46% of all mass market paperbacks sold in the US. This expansion was due in part to voracious readers, with over half of Harlequin's customers purchasing 30 novels per month. By this time, the romance novel audience had become more educated, with 45% having a college degree, and more than half of the audience worked outside the home.[151]
By the 2000s, romance had become the most popular genre in modern literature. In 2008, romantic fiction generated $1.37 billion in sales, with 7,311 romance novels published and making up 13.5% of the consumer book market. Over 74 million people claimed to have read at least one romance novel in 2008, according to a Romance Writers of America study. The study reported that 9.5% of romance readers identified themselves as male, and that romance readers were more likely to be married or living with a partner. According to the RWA 84% of romance buyers were women and 16% were men.[152] Of the entire American population, 24.6% read at least one romance novel in 2008.[114]
The most prestigious and notable awards for romance novels are the RITA Awards, which are presented annually by the Romance Writers of America to the best novels in romantic fiction.[159]
Another notable award is the Romantic Novel of the Year Award (RoNA) through the Romantic Novelists' Association.[160] The award is separated into categories: