This is so great! As a writer and reader I’m really interested in this framework of what authors think makes a romance “believable,” and that often it is a mode of repair or resolution to harm. It makes so much sense given the conventions of the romance genre (the oft maligned “third act breakup”). I’m wondering if you think more recent romance novels (post 2020) are less interested in harm and repair as a way of achieving believability- tending more toward a resolution of a miscommunication where no actual harm was caused? I’m thinking of Funny Story by Emily Henry, a book I loved but that I do think is kind of representative of the “miscommunication as third act drama” plot point. I worry sometimes that we are losing recipes because newer romance readers with a more puritanical lens might not tolerate a character like Camille, who has done wrong in a not cute way.
I will say the Emily Henry book that I have read (I really don't read too much contemporary!) Happy Place seems deeply uninterested in processing any type of bad behavior of the couple. Not sure if you've read it, but there is a moment of extreme jealously on the part of the MMC that is a catalyst for a breakup (though there are certainly other underlying issues). But if I am remembering correctly, the interaction that he is jealous over is actually an incident of workplace sexual harassment by one of the FMC's co-workers. I felt like this cruelty went unaddressed!
My impression of Henry (and a lot of writers writing now to get to your question) is that there's deep fear of characters doing anything *that* bad. So what can happen is either overblown miscommunication, because this is ultimately forgivable, or bad acts will happen, but they are drive-by glances, never addressed, because if the reader notices that the character has done something wrong, the author fears they will lose the reader. And I actually do see a lot of readers (particularly those who started reading in 2020 and primarily read books published after that year) read this way--seeking characters who are unimpeachable. But to me, that is a character sketch, not a novel.
I'm actually a big defender of miscommunication, which I don't think of a trope at all because it can manifest in so many ways, and I think in a genre that focuses on interpersonal conflict, of course 90% of the conflict will come down to people misunderstanding each other. But we have to go somewhere from there! Something has to *happen*. I think Balogh's The Proposal does a great job of having a reason for literal miscommunication that actually causes conflict. The hero and heroine have a class difference and how they speak to each other in their social codes differs greatly, causing conflict.
Other authors who are writing now that I think do capital-c Conflict well are Elizabeth Kingston (particularly her medieval series) and Courtney Milan. But at least in historicals, I am generally disappointed with the new releases that I try and I hear from my friends who read contemporaries more than I do that there are similar problems in that subgenre!
Yes exactly! I read Elizabeth Kingston’s One Burning Heart recently and loved it so much! She lies to him for five years! He’s still so into it! Drama! Mess!!
I had similar lukewarm feelings about Happy Place— I think what Henry is especially good at is showing how family dynamics influence the way the main couple engages with each other, her characters exist in such well drawn familial contexts that to me add character depth where a lack of bad behavior might leave them shallow. But those elements are less present (to me) in Happy Place and PWMOV, her weakest two installments imo (though I still liked both books).
As someone who wrote a contemporary romcom last year, I felt torn between my love of Mess and Drama and worrying about alienating readers, cause I have observed this increasing moral Puritanism. I think I landed on the “let them be messy” side of the coin, so we’ll see what the submission trenches think of it, haha.
I haven’t read any Courtney Milan but I’ll have to put her on my list! I’m halfway through Kinsale’s For My Lady’s Heart right now and it’s blowing my mind, but Kinsale is always on another level!
It's no surprise that you are love FMLH if you loved Kingston--Kinsale is her mentor! And good luck with the submission cycle, lord know we need more mess (complimentary) in romance nowadays.
I really loved this essay! There is so much richness that comes from being familiar with an authors body of work and I love seeing you break down the ways Balogh handles harm in very different ways. I do also just like when you break down a novel in this way.
Also, I shall actually circle back to Balogh at some point soon.
I think you might enjoy her categories! they are just *fun* in a way that we've lost in publishing I think. and next week's episode is about another Signet Regency Romance by another author (Joan Wolf!). I just want more people to read these books because they are doing something that I think we've lost!
This is very interesting! Have you read THE SONG OF THE MAGPIE by Louise Mayberry? It very directly deals with themes of forgiveness, redemption, and the penal code of 19th century Britain!
This is so great! As a writer and reader I’m really interested in this framework of what authors think makes a romance “believable,” and that often it is a mode of repair or resolution to harm. It makes so much sense given the conventions of the romance genre (the oft maligned “third act breakup”). I’m wondering if you think more recent romance novels (post 2020) are less interested in harm and repair as a way of achieving believability- tending more toward a resolution of a miscommunication where no actual harm was caused? I’m thinking of Funny Story by Emily Henry, a book I loved but that I do think is kind of representative of the “miscommunication as third act drama” plot point. I worry sometimes that we are losing recipes because newer romance readers with a more puritanical lens might not tolerate a character like Camille, who has done wrong in a not cute way.
I will say the Emily Henry book that I have read (I really don't read too much contemporary!) Happy Place seems deeply uninterested in processing any type of bad behavior of the couple. Not sure if you've read it, but there is a moment of extreme jealously on the part of the MMC that is a catalyst for a breakup (though there are certainly other underlying issues). But if I am remembering correctly, the interaction that he is jealous over is actually an incident of workplace sexual harassment by one of the FMC's co-workers. I felt like this cruelty went unaddressed!
My impression of Henry (and a lot of writers writing now to get to your question) is that there's deep fear of characters doing anything *that* bad. So what can happen is either overblown miscommunication, because this is ultimately forgivable, or bad acts will happen, but they are drive-by glances, never addressed, because if the reader notices that the character has done something wrong, the author fears they will lose the reader. And I actually do see a lot of readers (particularly those who started reading in 2020 and primarily read books published after that year) read this way--seeking characters who are unimpeachable. But to me, that is a character sketch, not a novel.
I'm actually a big defender of miscommunication, which I don't think of a trope at all because it can manifest in so many ways, and I think in a genre that focuses on interpersonal conflict, of course 90% of the conflict will come down to people misunderstanding each other. But we have to go somewhere from there! Something has to *happen*. I think Balogh's The Proposal does a great job of having a reason for literal miscommunication that actually causes conflict. The hero and heroine have a class difference and how they speak to each other in their social codes differs greatly, causing conflict.
Other authors who are writing now that I think do capital-c Conflict well are Elizabeth Kingston (particularly her medieval series) and Courtney Milan. But at least in historicals, I am generally disappointed with the new releases that I try and I hear from my friends who read contemporaries more than I do that there are similar problems in that subgenre!
Yes exactly! I read Elizabeth Kingston’s One Burning Heart recently and loved it so much! She lies to him for five years! He’s still so into it! Drama! Mess!!
I had similar lukewarm feelings about Happy Place— I think what Henry is especially good at is showing how family dynamics influence the way the main couple engages with each other, her characters exist in such well drawn familial contexts that to me add character depth where a lack of bad behavior might leave them shallow. But those elements are less present (to me) in Happy Place and PWMOV, her weakest two installments imo (though I still liked both books).
As someone who wrote a contemporary romcom last year, I felt torn between my love of Mess and Drama and worrying about alienating readers, cause I have observed this increasing moral Puritanism. I think I landed on the “let them be messy” side of the coin, so we’ll see what the submission trenches think of it, haha.
I haven’t read any Courtney Milan but I’ll have to put her on my list! I’m halfway through Kinsale’s For My Lady’s Heart right now and it’s blowing my mind, but Kinsale is always on another level!
It's no surprise that you are love FMLH if you loved Kingston--Kinsale is her mentor! And good luck with the submission cycle, lord know we need more mess (complimentary) in romance nowadays.
I really loved this essay! There is so much richness that comes from being familiar with an authors body of work and I love seeing you break down the ways Balogh handles harm in very different ways. I do also just like when you break down a novel in this way.
Also, I shall actually circle back to Balogh at some point soon.
I think you might enjoy her categories! they are just *fun* in a way that we've lost in publishing I think. and next week's episode is about another Signet Regency Romance by another author (Joan Wolf!). I just want more people to read these books because they are doing something that I think we've lost!
This is very interesting! Have you read THE SONG OF THE MAGPIE by Louise Mayberry? It very directly deals with themes of forgiveness, redemption, and the penal code of 19th century Britain!
I have not, but it sounds right up my alley! thank you for the recommendation.