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Historical fiction vs historical romance
How about something that has nothing to do with Judaism [for a change], but is a big topic of discussion in women's historical fiction? What is the difference [assuming there is one] between historical romance, historical fiction with a romance plot, and historical fiction with romantic elements? Surely all have the basic plot: girl meets boy, girl gets boy, girl loses boy, girl gets boy. So what makes one novel a 'bodice-ripper' and another literary fiction? Is it the writing or merely the publisher? That is, does Harlequin sell the former and Penguin the latter? Is it hard cover vs. trade paperback vs. mass-market paperback? Is it marketed towards women readers? And who decides?
According to Wikipedia [who knew there was such a trove of information on the subject?] a historical romance takes place before WWII, has a plot whose primary focus is the relationship and romantic love between two people, and concludes with an emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending. I guess that leaves out 'Romeo and Juliet', as well as 'Gone with the Wind.' Yet under this definition, each volume of my RASHI'S DAUGHTERS trilogy probably qualifies, as does everything written by Jane Austen and many of Zane Grey's westerns. Anyone who denies that Zane Grey writes romantic novels hasn't read 'Riders of the Purple Sage.'
There lies perhaps the critical distinction. A historical romance is first and foremost a romance. Nothing intrudes on the relationship - not the heroine's profession, her relationship with her family, nor historical events. Secondary characters exist purely to help or hinder the love relationship. Critics complain that historical romances are formulaic, and this may be due to lack of subplots and interesting secondary characters. In historical fiction with a romance plot, historical events loom large, and the love relationship is one of many influences on the heroine and hero's lives. Historical family sagas often have romantic elements, but there may be several heroes and heroines in different generations and locations [James Michener's novels come to mind].
So who decides? Apparently the bookseller. Go into any bookstore and the romances are shelved together, while my new novel, RASHI'S DAUGHTER: BOOK III - RACHEL, sits in another section altogether, along with all sorts of disparate novels. Or perhaps my book is filed with Judaica. Yet in 2007, when it came time for Bookscan to decide in what category to rank the sales for BOOK II - MIRIAM, they put it under Romance, where it spent 18 weeks on Bookscan's bestseller list. Imagine how long it might have stayed there if they'd labeled it Judaica.
According to Wikipedia [who knew there was such a trove of information on the subject?] a historical romance takes place before WWII, has a plot whose primary focus is the relationship and romantic love between two people, and concludes with an emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending. I guess that leaves out 'Romeo and Juliet', as well as 'Gone with the Wind.' Yet under this definition, each volume of my RASHI'S DAUGHTERS trilogy probably qualifies, as does everything written by Jane Austen and many of Zane Grey's westerns. Anyone who denies that Zane Grey writes romantic novels hasn't read 'Riders of the Purple Sage.'
There lies perhaps the critical distinction. A historical romance is first and foremost a romance. Nothing intrudes on the relationship - not the heroine's profession, her relationship with her family, nor historical events. Secondary characters exist purely to help or hinder the love relationship. Critics complain that historical romances are formulaic, and this may be due to lack of subplots and interesting secondary characters. In historical fiction with a romance plot, historical events loom large, and the love relationship is one of many influences on the heroine and hero's lives. Historical family sagas often have romantic elements, but there may be several heroes and heroines in different generations and locations [James Michener's novels come to mind].
So who decides? Apparently the bookseller. Go into any bookstore and the romances are shelved together, while my new novel, RASHI'S DAUGHTER: BOOK III - RACHEL, sits in another section altogether, along with all sorts of disparate novels. Or perhaps my book is filed with Judaica. Yet in 2007, when it came time for Bookscan to decide in what category to rank the sales for BOOK II - MIRIAM, they put it under Romance, where it spent 18 weeks on Bookscan's bestseller list. Imagine how long it might have stayed there if they'd labeled it Judaica.
Tags: daughters, fiction, historical, rashi's, romance
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