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Photo by Asad Photo Maldives: https://www.pexels.com/photo/silhouette-of-man-and-woman-kissing-1024975/Photo by Asad Photo Maldives: https://www.pexels.com/photo/silhouette-of-man-and-woman-kissing-1024975/
Photo by Asad Photo Maldives: https://www.pexels.com/photo/silhouette-of-man-and-woman-kissing-1024975/
Romance…just the word is provocative, teasing, almost as though it needs another syllable—yet it says everything. We know what romance is—sort of—although the word probably means something different to everybody.
For some, it might mean flowers, an expensive restaurant, then a carriage ride along the Thames. For others, a beach, a luxurious condo, and plenty of “us” time. For a frazzled mother, you might envision romance as a sleepover for the kids, dinner delivered to your door, and an early night. For hard-working women, a foot rub might suffice. Or a back rub.
Whatever the activity associated with the word, I think we’d all agree on one thing: romance isn’t the ordinary. It implies that our love interest went to extra work to make it super special. Memorable. Inspiring.
For me, my perfect romantic time might include a walk through a cemetery, a buffet dinner, and a foot rub. Weird, I know.
The word romance comes from the word Roman, and refers to the amorous tales of knights and their ladies, which is how romance came to be associated with stories, either written or spoken. Nowadays, the word also refers to the love relationship.
So let’s delve into the story of romance throughout history.
The earliest known romance story that has survived the wear and tear of history is The Love Song for Shu-Sin”, written around 2000 BC in Mesopotamia, and it is actually a poem which also functioned as a song performed through Shu-Sin’s marriage ceremony. It was written on clay tablets, and parts of it survive to this day.
Photo by Jose Francisco Fernandez Saura: https://www.pexels.com/photo/sculpture-on-a-wall-22147690/
No doubt many other stories were written in the intervening years, but few are available to us today. With the invention of the printing press, however, books in general became more popular, and so was the availability of printed matter to common people. Prior to the press, books were copied by hand. As you can imagine, this was an expensive undertaking, so only the most important books—primarily the Bible and other religious documents and texts, as well as scientific texts—were purchased and financed.
Photo by Erik Mclean: https://www.pexels.com/photo/crop-faceless-person-with-letterpress-template-in-typography-4140908/
Photo by Erik Mclean: https://www.pexels.com/photo/crop-faceless-person-with-letterpress-template-in-typography-4140908/
However, books in general, and romance specifically, flooded the marketplace beginning in the 1700s and 1800s, readers were introduced to the romance genre, which focused primarily on the lives and struggles of female protagonists. For the first time, women learned they were not alone in their closeted lives, their passions, their hopes for a better future. Most of these books were written by women, about women, for women.
In most of these early romances, which were about white women because that’s who was doing the writing, the heroine defied social conventions or overcame personal struggles in pursuit of their own happiness. Usually, they found their soulmate and ended the novel safe and secure. These stories were emotionally satisfying to their readers, bringing a sense of “all is well with the world” in a time when all was not well.
The romance novel grew along with its audience, and soon authors were writing stories that met with reader expectations, while still allowing the heroines to express their individuality, achieve their own goals, and marry successfully, offering a form of escape and inspiration to their audience.
Photo by Gera Cejas: https://www.pexels.com/photo/young-couple-in-retro-clothing-standing-face-to-face-and-embracing-22601554/
By the 1900s, romance novels sought to include the happenings of the recent past, including the Civil War, slavery, suffrage movement, modern inventions such as the telephone, and modern improvements such as the railroad. During this time, historical romance came into vogue, as readers liked to read about “the good old days” to escape the now fast-paced modern life they lived.
By the 1950s, other genres such as gothic romance were catching on. It seemed readers couldn’t get enough of whatever was being published. Many authors chose a pen name and wrote several different genres at a time, exploring and creating subgenres that appealed to a larger audience.
In the 1950s and 1960s, readers saw a shift from everyday lives to exotic locations, with heroines working in careers outside the norm, or who were so rich they didn’t need to work. In 1949, Harlequin Romance hitched onto this publishing wagon with The Manatee by Nancy Bruff. They soon learned that the steamier the cover, the higher sales shot up. Enter stage right, Italian-American model Fabio, who became a popular cover model at more than four hundred and sixty books.
In 1972, a new subgenre appeared: the bodice ripper. Up to now, romance novels had portrayed very little sexually explicit material, but all that soon changed. In the basic story, a beautiful virgin catches the eye of a scoundrel who attempts to seduce her but finds he’s met his match, and by the end of the book, has lost his lascivious drive and instead commits to one woman for life—our heroine.
The problem with these stories is that they morphed into tales of abuse and violence toward women, which soon fell out of favor, even though the term has lasted. Around this same time, new female authors pushed the boundaries of the genre and explored romance from a different perspective, proving that authors didn’t have to write to what the market expected—they could create their own market.
And while some readers contend that romance novels are the same story told with different names and settings, one thing is certain: romance and it’s subgenres is still the highest selling category in the world.
Which makes sense. Who doesn’t love a good love story? It’s what the Bible is all about: God’s love for us, so much that He gave His Only Son to save us from ourselves. And doesn’t everybody love a happy ending?
If you’ve ever thought of writing a romance novel but you’re not certain where to begin, check out the last link in the Resources section below. And if you need help getting started, feel free to book a FREE 45-minute phone call with me at: https://calendly.com/thepurposefullwriter_2023_05
About A Fresh Start for Elizabeth:
Evan Hamden, childless widower, searches for a cure for TB. While drawn to Miss Maddock, he resists falling in love, because he has a lifetime of work ahead of him and doesn’t want any distractions such as marriage or family. But when his patients start dying, he doesn’t know who to trust. Certainly not this invisible God Miss Maddock relies on.
Can Evan and Elizabeth discover whether his treatment plan is faulty, or is somebody behind the deaths? Can they trust each other—and God—to reveal the truth?
Check it out here: https://www.amazon.com/Fresh-Start-Elizabeth-Beginnings-Colorado/dp/1958897051 and you can check out the rest of the Series: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CGM7Q2GM
Giveaway: Leave a comment to enter a random drawing for a free ebook of A Fresh Start for Elizabeth.
About Donna:
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Resources:
Cuniform tablet: Nicole Ashley Rahayu Densmoor from https://www.pexels.com/search/ ancient%20writings%20on%20clay%20tablets/
https://www.nypl.org/blog/2019/02/15/brief-history-romance-novel-recommendations
https://cristinharber.com/archive/evolution-romance-novel/
https://www.pw.org/content/love_through_the_ages
https://www.masterclass.com/articles/writing-101-what-is-a-romance-novel-learn-about-the-history-and-characteristics-of-romance-novels
Donna, this is interesting. I had no idea that Fabio was on over a hundred covers. You can usually gauge the content of a romance by how much clothes the models wear on the front. However there are some covers that are drawings that really give no hint until you read them. Great post.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading this post, Donna. I've been following romance novels for years. I remember when Fabio began his romance cover modeling career. Romantic Times Magazine was a favorite that I read, and I bought every book that Victoria Holt published! I've never liked the bodice ripper books. Thanks for writing about this topic!
ReplyDeleteThank you for posting today and diving into this particular genre. I didn't realize its' many nuances, nor the longevity of it!
ReplyDeleteKaren Jennings is our winner for this month! I will contact her directly to arrange delivery of her gift.
ReplyDelete