Valentine’s Day: What’s behind the enduring cultural appeal of romance novels?

But what exactly is a romance novel? And what explains its appeal?

A brief history of romance novels

A romance novel primarily concerns itself with the beginning, middle and a “happily ever after” of a love story. It takes its readers along the journey of two people discovering they love each other, and ends on an optimistic note.

In Collected Ancient Greek Novels (1989), noted academic Bryan P Reardon has talked about the “ideal romance” novel that was a successful genre in ancient Greece. Later, in the 18th and 19th Centuries, romance found mainstream success through works like Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded (1740) by Samuel Richardson and Jane Austen’s enduring classic Pride and Prejudice (1813).

In the mid-19th Century, authors such as Charlotte Brontë and Ann Radcliffe made the sub-genre of gothic romance popular – these typically had dark, foreboding settings with mysterious male leads who had a “softer side” for the plucky, but virtuous, heroine.

The entire landscape of the romance genre would be changed by British publishing company Mills and Boons, which began romance novels targeted specifically at a female audience in the 1930s. They pioneered the mass market romance, and soon enough, Mills and Boons became a shorthand for the genre itself.

The leads of 20th Century romances tended to be largely white, heterosexual, and the male protagonist was usually from a higher socio-economic standing than the female protagonist. Today, with changes in sensibilities and pushing of genre definitions, romance has also come to include non-heterosexual narratives with protagonists drawn from various ethnicities, genders and backgrounds.

Why do so many people read romance?

The easiest answer is that the escapist, almost fantastical nature of the genre forms a comfortable place for readers to step away from their lives for a couple of hours. The fact that readers almost always know that there will be a “happy ending” provides an easy reading experience, while the twists and turns that eventually lead the main couple to their union keeps them interested.

The simplistic, predictable plots of romance novels are usually heavily criticised – and with that comes a sort-of mockery of the “average romance reader”.

Who reads romance?

Romance novels are primarily read by women, and there have been various statistics over the years to back this up. According to a 2012 survey by the organisation Romance Writers of America, almost 91 per cent of romance buyers were women.

However, there is a sexist bias in the treatment of romance by academia. Despite being the largest-selling genre of books, romance does not find a place in most university syllabi, reducing its scope to be read with academic vigour.

Covid and romance

The Covid-19 pandemic, which moved a large number of people across the world inside their homes due to lockdown restrictions, was accompanied by a boom in the sales of romance novels. People who had to deal with a whole new reality turned to a genre where predictability and pleasure dominated — two things which were increasingly lacking in their lived experience.

Moreover, with publishers spotlighting romance authors who wrote about characters from non-white, non-heterosexual perspectives, the genre was able to capture new readers. Colleen Hoover and Emily Henry, who primarily write romances focused on white and heterosexual characters, became two of the biggest names associated with the genre. Authors such as Casey McQuiston, Alyssa Cole, Helen Hoang, and Ashley Herring Blake also found unprecedented success through their works exploring not just non-white and queer relationships, but also characters who are differently abled.