Charlotte Lamb was the "author of more than 150 romances and thrillers" and her oeuvre is certainly varied. SB Sarah described her "last novel, The Boss’s Virgin" as "cracktastic, sudzy, over the top, silly and utterly insane fizzy candy, and I cannot put it the hell down. It’s a horrible turn-the-page omg-what-next experience, reading this book. What is IN this book?" but Sandra's review of Lamb's Vampire Lover gives an insight into another type of novel that Lamb is known for, namely romances which pushed at the boundaries of what was taboo. As Sandra quoted from the Harlequin website:
Charlotte was a true revolutionary in the field of romance writing. One of the first writers to explore the boundaries of sexual desire, her novels often reflected the forefront of the "sexual revolution" of the 1970s. Her books touched on then-taboo subjects such as child abuse and rape, and she created sexually confident—even dominant—heroines. She was also one of the first to create a modern romantic heroine: independent, imperfect, and perfectly capable of initiating a sexual or romantic relationship.The most recent boundary-pushing novel of Lamb's that I've read is Hot Blood (1996). It wasn't just that Lamb set up a love triangle which kept me puzzled until very close to the end of the novel because I really didn't know which man the heroine would end up with, it was also that this heroine, who was being pursued by two very eligible men, was a 52-year-old grandmother. I doubt that heroines of that age were common when Lamb wrote the novel, and they're still uncommon in the romance genre today. This is perhaps because of the prejudices that still exist about older women:
Historically, women in mid and later life have been characterised as losing interest in sexuality and the expression of sexual desire. The Victorians preferred to view women in general as asexual creatures. Progressively, throughout the 20th century, this view has been revised thanks to the pioneering work of Freud, Ellis, Kinsey, Masters and Johnson and Hite. As views about sexuality have changed[,] the recognition that ageing might include continuing sexual activity [...] has been slowly gaining ground. [...]
Even so, many people both young and old, still regard the menopause as a cut off point in the sexual life of women reflecting Havelock Ellis’s view in the early 20th century that " there is a frequent well marked tendency in women at the menopause to an eruption of sexual desire, which may easily take on a morbid form". In a 1969 publication entitled Everything You Wanted to Know about Sex, Reuben claimed that ‘as estrogen is shut off, a woman becomes as close as she can to being a man’. ‘… decline of breasts and female genitalia all contribute to a masculine appearance.’ ‘Having outlived their ovaries, they have outlived their usefulness as human beings’. Even in 1997 this view was echoed in the Pennell Report where one quoted author reported that ‘the removal of a monthly event (menstruation) [is] central to the perception of femininity and fertility’ ‘age [causes] fear of the loss of sexual attractiveness due to a decline in beauty…’ (Vincent, Shmueli, and Ridell)
At first Lamb only hints at her heroine's age by referring to her "silvery hair" (5) so at first a reader might assume the hair is simply a very pale shade of blonde, since this is how she is depicted on the cover. The back-cover copy omits to mention her age either. What Lamb does do right from the start is subtly underscore the value of older things through the heroine's love of them: She felt stupid, sitting here in floods of tears over an old black and white movie made before most of the audience had even been born!It is only after proof of the heroine's sexual attractiveness has been offered to the reader in the form of Joe's attentions towards her that her age is revealed.
Kit was a film buff, obsessed with the cinema and with the techniques of filming [...]. She particularly loved old black and white films. They had so much more atmosphere; a tension and power that films shot in colour simply didn't have. (5)
Although Kit is aware of the sexual double-standard regarding beauty and ageing, she cannot help but be affected by it:
he looks good for his age. Men always did - that annoyed her whenever she thought about it. It was so unfair. [...]The problem is not necessarily that time ages women unfairly quickly, but that female beauty is so closely associated with youth:
Along with all the other advantages they had, men aged slower than women. They didn't live as long, of course. Women tended to outlive them, but life did not compensate by letting women keep their looks into old age.
Time started in on you once you were in your forties, pencilling wrinkles in around your eyes and mouth, especially if you had ever smiled a lot, which seemed doubly unfair. (10)
Youth and (until recently) virginity have been "beautiful" in women since they stand for experiential and sexual ignorance. Aging in women is "unbeautiful" since women grow more powerful with time [...] Most urgently, women's identity must be premised upon our "beauty" so that we will remain vulnerable to outside approval, carrying the vital sensitive organ of self-esteem exposed to the air. (Wolf 14)With two potential love interests, though, one of whom is ten years her junior, the novel suggests that Kit's assessment of herself isn't entirely accurate. And although Kit muses that "Everything has its season [...] - being born, growing up, falling in love, having children, growing old" (147) the novel demonstrates that falling in love may happen after having children and after a person begins to grow old. Kit herself mentions the "natural round of the seasons of the human race - we begin, we end, and in between we do the best we can" (147), a concept given visual form in Titian's painting of The Three Ages of Man (c1513) with which I began this post. As explained on the website of the National Gallery of Scotland
This early work depicts the three stages of life: infancy, adulthood and old age. Cupid clambers over the sleeping babies who may grow up to be like the young lovers on the right. Their intense and intimate relationship will eventually be interrupted by death, symbolised by two skulls which the old man contemplates.Lamb's novel suggests that we need to place older lovers alongside the younger ones, because the ending of youth does not signal the end of either life or of opportunities for forming romantic relationships.
Whatever the reasons for the general scarcity of middle-aged and older heroines in the genre, authors themselves do age and this may affect their depiction of supposedly youthful heroines. RfP at Readers Gab observes that many young heroines appear more like older women in disguise or young women trapped in a time-warp:
What decade do you think most contemporary romances are set in? I mean romances ostensibly set today—when would you place them, relative to real people in the present day? Do novels published in 2005 ever strike you as more like 1985? I have the impression most heroes and heroines are described as between 20 and 35, but how old do they seem?RfP's not alone in asking these questions. Last year Robin Uncapher at AAR asked "When was the last time you read a contemporary romance novel where the characters, hero or heroine, really sounded young?" and she added "here’s my suggestion to romance publishers: if you want younger readers romance publishers, its time to write heroines who really seem to be young themselves."
Every so often I run across a romance in which the hero and heroine act older than they’re supposed to be. Not necessarily more mature, but as if their attitudes and concerns (and sometimes fashion sense) were shaped a decade or more earlier than the setting of the novel.
Harlequin seems ready to take up the challenge with its Modern Heat romances which are described in the guidelines for the line as featuring "the kind of relationships that women between the ages of 18-35 aspire to. Young characters in affluent urban settings". As reported at the Pink Heart Society blog the editor of the Modern Heat line,
To find new authors for the line Harlequin is currently holding a writing competition. The rules can be found here, and fuller descriptions of the Modern Heat line can be found here and here.Joanne Carr, describes Modern Heat as "a sassy, vibrant, new stream of editorial published in Harlequin Presents from aimed at a younger readership. Think of Modern Heat as Presents’ younger sister.
Sparky dialogue, urban settings and smouldering sensuality combined with original author voices - these are upbeat contemporary romances at their best! The heroines are your twenty-something girls-about-town [...]. We are on the look-out for new authors that can convey that young urban feel with 21st century characters.
- Lamb, Charlotte. Hot Blood. Richmond, Surrey: Harlequin Mills & Boon, 1996.
- Vincent, Chris, Avi Shmueli, and Jenny Ridell. "Sexuality and Older Women – Setting the Scene." Tavistock Marital Studies Institute, 2001.
- Wolf, Naomi. The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women. 1990. London: Vintage, 1991.
I found the photo of the UK cover of Hot Blood via Amazon. The back-cover copy and a photo of the US version of the cover (using the same cover art) can be found here. There's also a rather negative, one-star review of the novel at Romantic Times where Shannon Short states that "Although story development is poorly structured and the characters not particularly sympathetic, Charlotte Lamb comes up with an interesting premise for readers." I wonder if this reviewer has an antipathy to love triangles and/or to divorced older women who have affairs, because I didn't notice anything wrong with the plot or anything particularly unsympathetic about the characters.
I'm an old crone and I find young people mostly boring.
ReplyDeleteCharlotte Lamb was an interesting writer. Although I personally find the stuff she wrote after the mid-80s less appealling as a reader, she was always looking at new angles on romance. Whether you like her books or not, she was inventive, thoughtful and at times subversive. Another interesting love triangle book of hers is 'Dark Dominion'. Again, it is not clear who the heroine is going to end up with. The heroine and her husband have, some would say, an unhealthily obsessive relationship. What is refreshing about the book is that the heroine seems to understand this and acknowledge that this feeds some part of her. It's an uncomfortable read in many ways and I doubt Harlequin would print it these days.
ReplyDeleteAs for the age issue, it's something I've blogged about (indirectly) a few times. I personally don't read much contemporary romance and one of the reasons for that is that I feel that young modern heroines are often so unconvincing. They very often do not seem to have the concerns and values of real modern women. (Chicklit is more accurate but not my cup of tea). For this reason, when I want a contemporary read, I find that I usually prefer erotica since the characters at least feel authentic to me (even if their behaviour is at the more extreme end of the spectrum). A good example would be something like 'Peep Show' by Mathilde Madden published by Black Lace. The heroine (who has a kink about watching men covertly as they engage in various sexual situations) is in a long-term relationship with a man that she loves. She has a career (of sorts) that she is trying to further. Her kink is fairly consuming but in between 'bouts' she lives a 'normal' life: she has friends and a social life; she watches TV; she cuddles up on the sofa with her boyfriend. She reads like an authentic modern woman to me and if it's not exactly 'textbook' romance, it ends in a tentative - if non-standard - HEA.
One of the things that people often complain about on some of the romance forums I follow is heroines in their early or mid-twenties who are already full professors, or museum curators, or high-ranking corporate executives.
ReplyDeleteI'm an old crone and I find young people mostly boring.
ReplyDeleteTal, should I now be worried that I'm too young/too boring for you? ;-)
Whether you like her books or not,
Tumperkin, as you say, she was "an interesting writer." I can't guarantee that all of her books were interesting, as I've only read a small proportion of them, but I didn't find any of them boring. As for my emotional response to them, I've liked some much better than others. I enjoyed reading this one, for example.
I feel that young modern heroines are often so unconvincing. They very often do not seem to have the concerns and values of real modern women. (Chicklit is more accurate but not my cup of tea).
It maybe depends on the "real modern women," though. I'm real, but as far as I can tell, I have next to nothing, apart from my age and gender, in common with most of the chick lit heroines I've encountered, so based on my own experience I might think they were unrealistic. That said, I don't have much in common with most romance heroines either.
Rosie Thornton's Hearts and Minds, however, is such a realistic depiction of academic life that I felt stressed out within the first couple of pages and couldn't finish the book. So perhaps I should be grateful that there aren't more novels which reflect "the concerns and values of real" academics.
One of the things that people often complain about on some of the romance forums I follow is heroines in their early or mid-twenties who are already full professors, or museum curators, or high-ranking corporate executives.
Yes, and I think this takes us back to what Wolf said about women growing more powerful as they age.
I saw this, from Fay Weldon, about what she perceives is the reality of young women today:
ReplyDeleteToday's girl is not after the pleasure of sex, it seems - that is a means to an end. She is not after romance - she is too realistic for that - but after the status of the partnered girl.
She needs to be seen to be wanted; she craves the envy of others. "Look at me, I'm thinner than you, you can see every rib I have. What's more I have the most expensive handbag in the world. Look at me, look at the man on my arm, the would-be lovers grovelling at my feet."
It is not the man she wants, or needs, to impress; it is other women. I know a girl who tried to sell a kidney in order to buy a designer jacket.
I can't say that's a reality I've had any contact with. It makes me think there must be quite a wide range of different perceptions of what the reality of young women's lives are.
Weldon also says that "romance titles account for just eight per cent of the adult fiction market in the United Kingdom, while the crime/thriller market is three and a half times that size."
Things in the US are rather different, according to the stats on the RWA's website:
Market Share of Romance Fiction
(source: Business of Consumer Book Publishing 2008)
* Romance fiction is the biggest fiction category in 2007.
Romance Market Share Compared to Other Genres
(source: Simba Information estimates)
* Romance fiction: $1.375 billion in estimated revenue for 2007
Religion/inspirational: $819 million
Science fiction/fantasy: $700 million
Mystery: $650 million
Classic literary fiction: $466 million
I don't know what, if anything, one might deduce from that about the reality of women's lives in the US and UK.
Laura - I don't know about you (I believe you live - as I do - in Scotland?) but from what I see around me, I have no difficulty in believing that the romance genre sells considerably less well here than in the US and that crime/thrillers do much better. Certainly, I have to get many novels I want from US suppliers and many writers I like are only published in the US.
ReplyDeleteIt's difficult to judge when I'm unaware of the position in the US, but I can't help feeling that romance is (even) more of a dirty word over here than over there.
Is it perhaps something about the British temperament? I don't know. But I think it's fascinating.
Laura wrote: Tal, should I now be worried that I'm too young/too boring for you? ;-)
ReplyDeleteLaura, I just keep you around to toy with you....
The Tigress has made an interesting comment about chick lit to me: that the genre was born out of newspaper columns, which is why it often doesn't work at novel length.
And I agree with you about Weldon's comments being a very dubious description of what young women today are like. Undoubtedly true of some, but not necessarily the majority, let alone all of them.
Incidentally, I've been doing the "Mole in a time machine" thing again, reading books recently unpacked, including some old mysteries by Elizabeth Linington, who also wrote as Dell Shannon and Lesley Egan, among other pseudonyms. The current one is narrated from the PoV of a female police detective who is 30 years old and has given up on life, mainly because her commitment to making rank as a cop (to please her cop father, who always wanted a son) has resulted in the loss of the man she loved, who gave up on her and married someone else. She feels her career is meaningless (her attitude is affected by other factors in her life, including the fact that her cases seem to be one act of random violence after another), since she has missed out on the most important area of a woman's life--marriage and children.
I find this as dated as the fact that she is struggling with carbon paper and typewriter ribbon when making out her reports. Cop heroines in modern romance/mystery fiction, like Eve Dallas, are committed to the job as well as to their men.
I'll get back to you on whether she changes her mind; but I just got DARK LIGHT, the new Jayne Castle, in the mail. Expect me when you see me.
Talpianna: heroines in their early or mid-twenties who are already full professors, or museum curators, or high-ranking corporate executives.
ReplyDeleteand Tumperkin: I personally don't read much contemporary romance and one of the reasons for that is that I feel that young modern heroines are often so unconvincing.
Some contemporaries give me that feeling too, but I've had luck with a few authors. On the negative side, just because it's easy, I'll ding Hqn Presents again. I especially notice what Talpianna described in Presents heroes. They're such authoritative older-man types, sometimes even stern and daddyish, that I don't see how they can be only 25 or 30. I've wondered whether there's some pressure to call heroes and heroines young even when they're not, or to pretend the decade is the '00s when it's really the '80s. Some Presents are almost steampunk--not Victorian, but similarly stylized in an older time period but with modern gadgets.
I don't think it's necessarily a fault in the books--perhaps the current wave of Presents just isn't aimed at my peer group. It also may be just the fairly visible set of authors I've tried. I'm curious about the Modern Heats being published in the US--that line *sounds* like it should be a bit less melodramatic and less dated, though as they're being retitled as Presents I'm not sanguine.
Speaking of titles, since reading Jenny Crusie's speculation that the current Hqn Presents titles ape tabloid-style excitement, I've wondered whether some of the settings themselves are meant to evoke tabloid stories. Don't some of the Presents sound like a fantasy of Jackie Kennedy/Aristotle Onassis, Grace Kelly/Prince Rainier, or maybe even Princess Di?
Tumperkin: (Chicklit is more accurate but not my cup of tea). ... I usually prefer erotica since the characters at least feel authentic to me
I don't enjoy the end of chick lit that's all about shopping and daily minutiae, but there is some chick lit with less brittle characters--though it doesn't guarantee a HEA. E.g. Jennifer Weiner's books are nothing like the Shopaholic books, but even though her main characters do make progress figuring out their lives, the stories are on the gut-wrenching side.
Laura: It maybe depends on the "real modern women," though. I'm real, but as far as I can tell, I have next to nothing, apart from my age and gender, in common with most of the chick lit heroines I've encountered, so based on my own experience I might think they were unrealistic. That said, I don't have much in common with most romance heroines either.
I agree that realism's slippery that way, but I'm not sure a book has to correspond to the reader's life to feel realistic. Part of my sense of realism is about whether the characters and relationships are stylized versus natural, and whether the detail goes into the book's dark side, or into making it aspirational, or outright didactic.
I think not only pop culture details but also style can conflict with the reader's reality. Very stylized and didactic novels can jar me with how far they are from how I see the world. It's one thing to read about a fictional character's world and values, but something else to absorb the message that every woman should want to be her, be attracted to the same type of man, or want the same type of relationship. Some of that response originates with the reader, but surely some is about tone and specific messages. (Laura, I think you've discussed descriptions like "He had the kind of rugged good looks any woman would find attractive".)
I believe you live - as I do - in Scotland?
ReplyDeleteYes, that's right.
from what I see around me, I have no difficulty in believing that the romance genre sells considerably less well here than in the US and that crime/thrillers do much better.
Yes, I can believe that too. Unless I go online I can only get Mills & Boons new now in one tiny shop that mostly sells second-hand romances. M&Bs stopped being stocked in the supermarkets near me a couple of years ago, and there isn't a big bookshop near me that has them. I did find one very, very small romance section in Waterstones, where they had a few US single-title romances (and some larger M&B volumes like the Lord and Ladies Collection).
a female police detective who is 30 years old and has given up on life, [...] she has missed out on the most important area of a woman's life--marriage and children.
The average age at which people first marry has shifted upwards over the past few decades, hasn't it? I think that's reflected in fiction. Thirty would hardly be considered old for a romance heroine nowadays, for example.
They're such authoritative older-man types, sometimes even stern and daddyish, that I don't see how they can be only 25 or 30.
I see what you mean. Maybe this is why they're often from non-English-speaking countries, because it helps readers suspend disbelief if they can pretend that Spanish/Greek/Italian etc men that age would be that stern/bossy.
I've wondered whether there's some pressure to call heroes and heroines young even when they're not
I think there might be. As a society we do seem to be rather obsessed with looking youthful. For heroines there might also be pressure to make them of child-bearing age so that there can be a "we've got to get married now that you're pregnant" plot, or so that the author can include a baby-filled epilogue.
I'm curious about the Modern Heats being published in the US--that line *sounds* like it should be a bit less melodramatic and less dated, though as they're being retitled as Presents I'm not sanguine.
In one of the descriptions of the line that I linked to Suzanne Clarke (one of the editors) writes that "a hot young millionaire tycoon will always have the edge over a paparazzi photographer or local shop owner! So think aspirational when it comes to your characters…" That doesn't make me feel entirely sanguine that there isn't going to be a shift towards less realistic characterisation.
I agree that realism's slippery that way, but I'm not sure a book has to correspond to the reader's life to feel realistic.
Oh, I agree. As I said, none of the characters seem to "correspond to my life", so I do have to base my assessment of the level of realism on other factors.
Laura, I think you've discussed descriptions like "He had the kind of rugged good looks any woman would find attractive".
I wish I had, but no, I can't remember saying that. It is the sort of comment that would bring out my pedantic/contrary streak, though.
I can't help feeling that romance is (even) more of a dirty word over here than over there.
ReplyDeleteI know single-titles are rare in the UK, but I don't know why. I assume part of it's about how booksellers define their niche. I've never had trouble finding romance in the US, but there are regions where libraries and independent booksellers don't carry romance. For us dirty girls on both sides of the Atlantic, the great goodness of Amazon is that it's not very discriminating.
Anyway, may as well add this to the mix: Pam Rosenthal says "Germany is the world’s second biggest market for romance fiction."
Having finished DARK LIGHT (HIGHLY recommended!) I went back and finished the Lesley Egan. At the end, the heroine no longer thinks the world is just random ugliness because (1) the two women who came in with clues gained from psychic visions have been proved accurate; and (2) when a local church was bombed at the hour of choir practice, a series of amazing coincidences caused everyone in the choir to be late and safe.
ReplyDeleteHer love life is still nonexistent, but at least she now believes that there is A Plan.
I agree that even supposedly young heroines sound and are life-positioned as much older. I am reading a contemporary right now (Graves, Tall Tales and Wedding Veils) in which the 29 year old heroine's mother has given her up for a lost cause as a producer of grandkids. Huh? that's not the world I live in. (Although I think there are class issues there, too.)
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of an older heroine (and they have made great secondary romances in some of my favorite novels), but in the US, at least, the sexual fulfillment of women is (believed to be) predicated on their sexual attractiveness to men, which in turn -- thanks to the linkage of fertility, youth, and desirability -- works against the post menopausal woman every time.
Great post!
the great goodness of Amazon is that it's not very discriminating
ReplyDeleteYes, but I do prefer to read at least the first few pages of a book before I buy it. Sometimes one can find excerpts on the publisher's or author's website, so that's helpful, and sometimes there's an excerpt at Amazon, but in other instances it can be impossible to find an excerpt online, and that's irritating and tends to put me off.
Another problem with Amazon is that I'm not sure how healthy it is for readers if any company ends up with a monopoly, and Amazon seems to be trying to head in that direction.
Her love life is still nonexistent, but at least she now believes that there is A Plan.
Tal, she sounds like she's being portrayed as the police equivalent of a nun. I can imagine the cover with a one-line description just below the title reading: "Trusting in Divine Providence she fights crime chastely, wedded only to the ideal of Justice!"
the sexual fulfillment of women is (believed to be) predicated on their sexual attractiveness to men, which in turn -- thanks to the linkage of fertility, youth, and desirability -- works against the post menopausal woman every time.
There's a relatively small window of opportunity for most heroines, isn't there. Very young heroines seem to be out of fashion, because many people seem to think that teenagers and people in their early twenties are too young to marry, but if a heroine is much over 35 readers will probably start hearing her biological clock ticking. The age-range for heroes is possibly even more restricted: an awful lot of them seem to be in their mid 30s.
Laura, she's more of a frustrated spinster. First she devoted her life to her career, to please her father; then her father became paralyzed and she devoted her life to caring for him. Now he's in a nursing home (too ill for home care) and she's looking at her life and thinking of what she missed. I don't know that she's exceptionally chaste (though given the author's usual moral views, she probably is); but if so, it's because she's been preoccupied rather than virtuous. Remember how old these books are (late 50s are when the series started, IIRC). Hippies are always portrayed as dirty, antisocial drug addicts, and gays are always perverse. In her last book, she actually had a gay couple come to the rescue of a sexually abused young girl--then she dropped dead. Post hoc ergo propter hoc?
ReplyDeleteThe author was a member of the notoriously ultraconservative John Birch Society, best known for their campaign to impeach Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Earl Warren.
In all of this author's series, stories, and sometimes even cases, are carried over from one book to another. She has married off other protagonists. My books were not packed in order, so I don't know which books follow this in the series, or where they are; but perhaps she marries Delia off eventually.
The age-range for heroes is possibly even more restricted: an awful lot of them seem to be in their mid 30s.
ReplyDeleteI agree it's rare for a heroine to be mature age-wise, but I think romance is equally resistant to a heroine who's emotionally "immature"--or rather, I think heroines who aren't ready for suburbia and babies are often labeled immature and forced to "grow up" for a happy ending. In real life, romances (potentially even ever-after ones) happen all the time between couples who aren't at that stage of their lives. But heroines who still need to "grow up" and "settle down" usually mark the book as chick lit; romance heroines are supposed to be emotionally mature (more so than heroes) and generally aren't allowed to be commitment phobic.
I don't think heroes are similarly restricted. I agree the hero's *stated* age is often mid-30s, but as I said on Readers Gab, I often think that's a slapped-on age that doesn't correspond well to the character. Unlike heroines, it's common to depict heroes as "immature", i.e. needing to grow up and settle down, regardless of age. OTOH some heroes are the opposite--not a playboy Peter Pan but a daddy figure far older than she, watching faintly creepily as the little girl grows up. (Shades of Neil Diamond again!)
she actually had a gay couple come to the rescue of a sexually abused young girl--then she dropped dead. Post hoc ergo propter hoc?
I'm thinking of writing about the cum hoc ergo propter hoc fallacies for Readers Gab. I know I fall into that trap when I read romance, in part because of how similarly many of the stories are resolved. But does repetition imply there's a real belief behind it? (For your ultraconservative author, it sounds like the answer is yes.)
I do prefer to read at least the first few pages of a book before I buy it.
I do too--I'm a browser, not an Amaholic. But not all books are available everywhere, so I'm glad Amazon exists because no other site has as much info on as great a variety. I use them all the time to discover and research books, though I'm often able to actually *purchase* locally and browse in the store.
I really didn't mean to open up the morality-of-Amazon discussion again, but I haven't seen much said in their favor lately so I will. Amazon's bully power in the marketplace, and my fondness for local shops, means I don't always buy from Amazon. However, they provide a service that I think benefits us *all*. A bookseller being indiscriminate IS a public good. You've experienced how some brick-and-mortar book chains ghettoize romances; they do the same in other categories. In the US some readers only find romances at grocery stores and big-box stores--those don't carry erotic romance or gay lit, and some of them only carry black romance if they're in predominantly black neighborhoods. The store isn't obliged to carry diverse literature; it's a private business. I discovered Ellora's Cave through Amazon back when it was impossible to find EC books at brick-and-mortar booksellers; even now, some large chains and most small indies don't carry them. I've never seen a romance with black characters at my local grocer's.
I'm not claiming Amazon is some sort of standard-bearer for justice, and Amazon isn't the only or ultimate solution to ghettoization. However, being pragmatic, they provide a great variety of books to consumers--without the restrictions of who's paid for prominent display or what the chain's management is comfortable selling (or can sell enough of at that store). So far, I haven't seen an alternative to Amazon that provides as much. I buy from Abebooks/Alibris, but until they provide the Read Inside and suggestion features that Amazon does, they aren't a lot of use for *discovering* books. Without that browsing/surfing capability, I find online shopping can actually *narrow* my book shopping.
/end Amazon apologia :)
Laura, she's more of a frustrated spinster.
ReplyDeleteI was trying to put a positive spin on your initial description, but clearly for this author spinsterhood, while preferable to being a hippy or gay, is still a shameful thing.
I think heroines who aren't ready for suburbia and babies are often labeled immature and forced to "grow up" for a happy ending.
And yet, in real life many couples may be grown up and happy together but never want suburbia, babies or the combination of the two. Maybe other alternatives would possibly be considered mature/adult but because they're not so likely to be considered the ideal by many romance authors/readers they don't turn up so often in romances? Rebecca Winters's Matrimony with His Majesty really stuck in my mind because of how it seemed to be presenting an ideal. Winters really seemed to want to give the heroine the best of all possible worlds, so she gets to be a princess and live in what read to me like an American-suburban-style house. That this was pure fantasy was emphasised for me from pretty much the start by the fact that the hero was “king of the Romanche-speaking Valleder Canton in Switzerland”(7). While authors may be free to make up fictional states/cantons, Switzerland is, and has been for centuries, a federal republic. The American heroine is going to make sure that the hero gets to live a normal life part of the time, having the opportunity to mow the lawn. And of course she's pregnant by the end of the novel.
Do even the paranormals tend to end up with the couple in a paranormal version of suburbia, having little paranormal babies?
I haven't seen an alternative to Amazon that provides as much. I buy from Abebooks/Alibris
Amazon are taking over Abebooks. I agree with you about the range and comprehensiveness of what Amazon provide.
Do even the paranormals tend to end up with the couple in a paranormal version of suburbia, having little paranormal babies?
ReplyDeleteThat's a good question. Not necessarily in suburbia--in the darker paranormals there's often no safe haven at the end. I think the baby question varies with the sub-sub-genre.
Psychic paranormal romances (e.g. Jayne Ann Krentz) often have standard romance endings.
Vampire and were paranormals are less likely to resolve tidily/safely, but fertility is variable. Interspecies romance introduces some fertility complications, while the crossover with urban fantasy's kick-ass heroines means the heroine doesn't always settle down.
The chick lit-style vampire romances I've read often end happy but not necessarily pregnant. Having a dead spouse seems to reduce fertility--e.g. sperm production stops at death, or the vampire's body temperature is too low. (Laurell K Hamilton solves the blood pressure problem by making vampires impotent until they drink blood.) I can see why vampire romance and chick lit work together--they both have potential to be less domestic. But the literally *immortal* love moves the endings away from chick lit uncertainty and into this-is-forever, I'll-never-tire-of-you romance.
OTOH some of the biggest names in paranormal *romance* (not chick lit or urban fantasy) are very baby-focused. Christine Feehan's Carpathians have trouble conceiving; babies are a huge preoccupation. Lora Leigh's Breeds (akin to were-critters) are forced into relationships by their biochemistry (though both the h/h are forced, not just the hero) and driven to mate until conception. In both cases survival strengthens the drive to procreate, though for the Breeds mating also elevates the couple to near-immortals.
Amazon are taking over Abebooks.
I'd read that. Mergers like that always make me wonder where the line is between admirably comprehensive and We Own Everything. I'd rather see a real competitor to Amazon, but used books are a low-margin specialty and Amazon's fiendishly clever. I have to agree with DS that competitors at the same scale are more like eBay/Half.com books/Paypal than like AddALL or Bookfinder.
BTW, back on age--
The Havelock Ellis quote reminds me of some of the crazier Victoriana:
"there is a frequent well marked tendency in women at the menopause to an eruption of sexual desire, which may easily take on a morbid form".
(Not that such beliefs were restricted to Victorians, or to western cultures!) I wonder if "massage to 'paroxysm'" was prescribed for older women and younger women alike.
I wonder if "massage to 'paroxysm'" was prescribed for older women and younger women alike.
ReplyDeleteI don't know, but you might find the answer in Rachel Maines's The Technology of Orgasm: "hysteria," the Vibrator, and Women's Sexual Satisfaction, 2001. There are quite a few pages of it visible online via Google Book Search. I haven't read it myself, but I remember AgTigress recommending it once when the topic came up in conversation at the Smart Bitches.
Having a dead spouse seems to reduce fertility
I've really not read many paranormal romances so I hadn't thought about the fertility issues associated with being a vampire. I do think that were-wolf babies would be quite sweet as puppies (and were-cat babies as kittens).
Diana Wynne Jones's Castle in the Air is YA fantasy, not paranormal romance, but in it there's mention of someone giving birth while in cat form, and she seems to think it was a lot simpler than doing so in human form.
That this was pure fantasy was emphasised for me from pretty much the start by the fact that the hero was “king of the Romanche-speaking Valleder Canton in Switzerland”(7).
ReplyDeleteWinters went to boarding school in Switzerland; it sounds like she may have combined a setting she loves with the hero/situation she wanted to write. It's interesting she didn't invent a neighboring monarchy of Spitzerland, though.
there's mention of someone giving birth while in cat form, and she seems to think it was a lot simpler
I'd forgotten that--it's a long time since I've read DWJ. I can't recall any actual births in were romances. I know some urban fantasy authors have the shapeshifting abilities develop with maturity, so the baby is human.
Winters went to boarding school in Switzerland; it sounds like she may have combined a setting she loves with the hero/situation she wanted to write. It's interesting she didn't invent a neighboring monarchy of Spitzerland, though.
ReplyDeleteYes, I'd noticed the information about her boarding school when I Googled to find a link to the first chapter of the novel. I imagine I found the idea of a Swiss canton ruled by a king as jarring as it would be for Americans to open a romance and discover that the hero is king of an imaginary additional US state. It just feels so very, very wrong given the history of the country.
Wouldn't a Swiss canton be ruled by a cantor?
ReplyDeleteFertility issues are a major theme in Patricia Briggs's werewolf books. Female weres can't carry a baby to term, because the full-moon Change is fatal to the embryo. They can only have children with humans; and only some of those can survive the Change and become werewolves without going insane. Mercy Thompson, her shapeshifting heroine who is of Native American descent and takes coyote form, is devastated when she learns that the male werewolf whom she's loved for years only wants her because he thinks she can give him children who will survive the Change.
I don't think there's a mention in CASTLE IN THE AIR of how hard Morgan's birth was for Sophie. The point is that he was born a kitten; and when all the spells are undone at the end and he finds himself a helpless baby, he is infuriated.
The family appears again in her latest book, HOUSE OF MANY WAYS.
WV: yeflu---a medieval English disease
I don't think there's a mention in CASTLE IN THE AIR of how hard Morgan's birth was for Sophie.
ReplyDeleteThe impression I got was that it wasn't hard. I think one can assume that when she gave birth as a cat she did so without any assistance from a midwife and that wasn't a problem, because cats don't generally need help in order to give birth. Isn't there another pregnant person in the book, who does give birth as a human? I thought something of a contrast was set up between the two, but maybe it was between the ease of caring for a kitten (when you're a mother cat) and the difficulty of caring for a human baby, which is so much more helpless. Or maybe I extrapolated all this from my own knowledge of human births and babies and the bit you mentioned, about Morgan preferring to be a kitten. Maybe I should go and re-read the book!
Were-babies do sound adorable, but I'm not sure if I've seen one depicted that one. Fertility is more often a stressor in the were-critter fantasy I've read.
ReplyDeleteFertility issues are a major theme in Patricia Briggs's werewolf books.
And in Keri Arthur's Riley Jenson series, and Kim Harrison's Rachel Morgan series (Rachel's a witch and needs another witch as lover or surrogate to be fertile). Kelley Armstrong is the first example that comes to mind of werebabies being a normal event--Clay and Elena don't start thinking about children until several books into the series. Though Elena's the only female werewolf so it's not common.
LKH gives some horrific medical details of what can go wrong in a were- or vampire-human pregnancy (Vlad Syndrome and Mowgli Syndrome), and apparently Stephenie Meyers followed suit. I suppose vampires and some werewolves perpetuate the species by biting, so perhaps birth isn't "normal" for them, but it's interesting that it creates a sub-subgenre that talks in detail about fertility issues and choosing a partner knowing there won't be babies, or that babies would be risky.
I found the idea of a Swiss canton ruled by a king as jarring as it would be for Americans to open a romance and discover that the hero is king of an imaginary additional US state. It just feels so very, very wrong given the history of the country.
I do find it ridiculous, and wonder whether it's a thoughtful/necessary creation or whether the author's imagination ran short. But as you said, it places the book in an alternate reality from the outset. I might not find it "jarring" because I might not read the novel as having anything to do with reality. Both scenarios put me in the reading mode of "In THAT world, it's that way" instead of "The author thinks it's that way in THIS world?!" If the strangely altered reality serves a purpose in the story, I might enjoy it. If it seems pointless, I probably wouldn't.
So many elements in romance strike me as unrelated to reality (usually less obvious elements--not history but culture) that I suppose my suspension-of-disbelief and separation-of-fiction-from-reality must be well exercised. But the execution is important: I want the changes to reality to contribute to the story. In this instance I have a feeling I'd have preferred the Spitzerland version.
You two are making me want to re-read DWJ. I've forgotten a lot. I just saw this trailer for Howl's Moving Castle, and it looks nice and steampunky.
I enjoyed the video of HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE. CASTLE IN THE AIR is not one of my favorites, because it's basically an ARABIAN NIGHTS-type story, and I don't care for those. I like the last part, though, when all the kidnapped princesses gang up against the djinn.
ReplyDeleteLaura, if you haven't read the latest Chrestomanci book, THE PINHOE EGG, do so at once. It's great. There's also what's really a novella, THE GAME, which I think is intended for younger readers but I enjoyed.
There's a werewolf pup in one of the Vicki Nelson books by Tanya Huff; the werewolves are the good guys in that one, and Vicky is hired to find out who's murdering them. The pup gets so fond of her that (as a kid) he gives her his favorite bone as a farewell present! In this case, there is a large family of werewolves, and the only worry seems to be inbreeding; there are a couple of teenaged cousins who are very attracted to one another and they want to send them to meet youngsters from other packs.
Circling back to age.... Many authors' vampires and werewolves have greatly extended lifespans, so decreased fertility may be necessary to keep their populations in check. At least, I think that would be a likely motivation for a sci fi author--population dynamics of that sort are often part of world-building. It may be that some romance authors who don't go in for detailed world-building have picked up on those lifespan conventions as useful in tackling traditional romance topics such as fertility and eternal fidelity.
ReplyDeleteI am coming rather late to this discussion, which in any case seems to have covered a lot of ground, but I want to say something about the question of older heroines.
ReplyDeleteIt is perfectly true that sexual attraction in all species is connected with the unconscious biological imperative of reproduction, so that at its most basic, both sexes will tend to be most strongly attracted to individuals of the opposite sex who are well placed to reproduce - young, healthy and so forth.
However, even amongst many of the higher mammals that is only part of the story, and in human beings, there are many, many other factors that influence the choice of a long-term mate.. Emotional bonding can often be expressed and emphasised by means of a sexual relationship. Humans have sex far more than most animals: females are not confined to periods of oestrus to be able to feel sexual desire, and are perfectly well able to respond sexually when not fertile, including during pregnancy and after menopause. We use sex as part of our emotional reinforcement of the paired state, as a way of giving each other pleasure, and of demonstrating trust.
What I am coming to is this: if romance is about love, about the formation of deep emotional bonds and the place in society of bonded pairs and the stability they lend to wider communities, then by definition, issues such as the age of heroines (whether pre- or post-menopausal), or the sexes of the protagonists (homosexual as well as heterosexual) are slightly beside the point. Sex is tied up just as much with love as it is with fertility inHomo sapiens. (It is also connected, as it is with other animals, with some pretty disagreeable issues of power and oppression, but that is something else).
Not only do many women in our societies marry later than was customary even 60 years ago; many do not marry till they are actually past childbearing age (making something of a nonsense of the wording of the C of E marriage service, for example; I suppose they leave out the 'instituted for the procreation of children' bit when marrying a couple of old-age pensioners). We are living longer, and the existence of close, mutually supportive relationships between elderly couples as well as much younger ones is of immense importance to society.
Neither sex nor the emotional bonds that it can strengthen are the exclusive preserve of the young.
even amongst many of the higher mammals that is only part of the story, and in human beings, there are many, many other factors that influence the choice of a long-term mate.
ReplyDeleteAgTigress, I absolutely agree. Fertility may be part of attractiveness, but by no means the largest part. (The same could be said of a number of species that have sex for pleasure, or form attachments that outlast fertility.) For humans, I imagine fertility may have a *decreasing* role in attractiveness since we take pharmaceuticals that alter our hormones and how we respond to physical reproductive cues.
Your points make it all the more interesting, I think, that romance without fertility comes up so often in interspecies romance and romance for immortals. I suppose it's possible that the importance of fertility is also questioned in roundabout fashion in the many Regencies with miracle babies tacked on at the end. I tend to read those as reinforcing the centrality of babies in marriage, but perhaps there's some of each happening, as the hero often accepts the heroine's so-called barrenness before the miracle baby fixes all.
if you haven't read the latest Chrestomanci book, THE PINHOE EGG, do so at once. It's great.
ReplyDeleteI read it a while ago. I didn't think it was as good as some of her others, but maybe I'm just getting harder to please.
Neither sex nor the emotional bonds that it can strengthen are the exclusive preserve of the young.
Very true!
For humans, I imagine fertility may have a *decreasing* role in attractiveness since we take pharmaceuticals that alter our hormones and how we respond to physical reproductive cues.
Yes, I read about that recently:
Researchers found that women chose different partners after taking the pill in tests on nearly 100 women.
Women are thought to use smell to identify people with different immune systems and complementary genes.
But the joint Liverpool and Newcastle universities' study suggested the pill disrupted this process, the Proceedings of the Royal Society B journal said.
By passing on a wide-ranging set of immune system genes, couples increase their chances of having a healthy child that is not vulnerable to infection.
Partners with different genes are also less likely to experience fertility problems or miscarriages. (from the BBC)
The article also included this:
lead researcher Dr Craig Roberts warned [...] "It could ultimately lead to the breakdown of relationships when women stop using the contraceptive pill, as odour perception plays a significant role in maintaining attraction to partners."
All this stuff about odour and the role it plays in attraction is making me think of werewolves again ;-)
Laura wrote: I imagine I found the idea of a Swiss canton ruled by a king as jarring as it would be for Americans to open a romance and discover that the hero is king of an imaginary additional US state. It just feels so very, very wrong given the history of the country.
ReplyDeleteMaryjanice Davidson has written a trilogy about the Alaskan royal family, but it's set in a very-slightly-alternate universe in which Russia never sold Alaska to the U.S.