For Mills & Boon author Maisey Yates, part of the appeal of romance novels is that they are designed for the time-conscious. Romance readers, though falling across a broad demographic, are often mothers or working professionals (or both).
“For me, the appeal of romance novels was that they could be read in a day,” says Yates. “As a mother with small children I liked that I could get a full emotional experience from a book that I could actually find the time to read.”
The “emotional experience” that Yates mentions is also key to the genre’s success: one of my readers once told me that her eighty-year-old Gran has a two-a-day Mills & Boon habit. The same reader added that though Granny had kicked her cigarette addiction, she had no intention of doing the same for her romance novels.
And indeed, why should she?
Although romance fiction has detractors on both sides of the fence–those who call it anti-feminist, and those who pooh-pooh it for being feminine–it is beginning to receive support not just from the wider public, but also in academic circles (see, for example, this article in Australian cultural studies journal Continuum.)
For Yates, the issue is that critics seem to incorrectly conflate marriage or long-term relationships with lack of agency or with submissiveness.
“I believe that the essence of feminism is choice,” she says. “So if a woman chooses marriage or a relationship–which I’ve done–I don’t see how it could be anti-feminist.”
Yates adds that the heroines in romance novels have goals–relationship-related goals and personal and professional goals–and that they have the tools to meet them.
“They take charge of their lives. They enjoy sex. They love the men in their lives, and they love themselves. I don’t think there’s anything anti-feminist about that.”
Indeed, for Yates, reading romance novels, and being involved in the industry has been an utterly rewarding experience. “It’s so female driven, and has been nothing but an empowering experience for me.”
So if it’s not the novels themselves that are the issue, why is the romance genre so often dismissed? Is it perhaps the fact that it is a women-driven genre? After all, urban fantasy, chick lit and “women’s fiction” (cf mainstream fiction written by men, which is simply called “fiction”), all struggle for critical approval, despite commanding huge sales.
“I absolutely believe it’s tied to a disdain for work by women for women,” says Yates. “If men write about family it can be billed as a commentary on suburban life. If women do it, it’s women’s fiction. I also believe we disdain emotion. Murder mysteries are fine. Reading them is fine. It doesn’t say anything about you. And yet there’s an attempt to label romance readers as delusional or worse. I think it says a lot about society that books about love and a happy ending are somehow considered more dangerous than works containing great violence.”
Romance novels have even been described as “emotional porn”, the female equivalent of pornographic films–a disturbing comparison given that so much pornography contains violence or violent intent towards women.
“I think it’s a shame that people are so willing to flaunt their ignorance,” laughs Yates. “Is reading a thriller adrenaline porn? Do action movies give men unrealistic expectations of getting into a car chase? I don’t think so.”
Yates points out that in her opinion pornography is created with the sole intent of providing sexual arousal and release, an that romance novels are not created for that reason. “I think, again, that there is a deep fear of things created by women or for women and that means people have to go to great lengths to try and steal their value.”
So given that changing gender perceptions is a long-term effort, can anything be done to improve the perception of romantic fiction in the short-term? Or should publishers such as Mills & Boon continue to target their existing audience demographic and ignore those who do not fit into it?
One thing that comes to mind, of course, is the oft-discussed romance novel cover. “It’s interesting,” says Yates. “The target audience love classic covers, while I think those who haven’t picked up a romance prefer them to be a bit less risque. The Modern covers in the UK are a good example.”
But if the phenomenal sales are anything to go by, romance novels seem to be falling into the hands of those who enjoy them.
“I’ve met so many readers, male and female, from different backgrounds and from all age groups who love the books,” says Yates. “I think romance is in a good place.”
But that’s not to say that Mills & Boon is resting on its laurels.
“I have to say, one of the things I love about working with M&B is the freedom they give me to play with themes, ideas and characters that appeal to me. I think there’s a push to expand the lines of the different categories while still keeping true to the promise of each individual series. Ultimately, I’m encouraged to bring me to the table and I think that’s so rewarding and fantastic.”
And with two novels and counting scheduled for release in 2012, Yates is no literary slouch.
There’s The Petrov Proposal, which I reviewed last year and thoroughly enjoyed. “It features my poor widower Aleksei, who was always making me cry, and his heroine the very sassy Maddy,” says Yates.
And there’s also Hajar’s Hidden Legacy, which is out in the UK in January and in Australia in February.
“This was one of those books where I was really pushed to be me and to just take it where I felt led to. I got to explore a lot of really interesting themes. The hero is horrible scarred and has post traumatic stress disorder and that was such a great thing to get to write. It was something that really, really pushed me.”
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