February Theme Read
A journey into my least favorite genre
Love lost and found. Unrequited love. Love/Hate. Love in an Elevator. Lovesick. Lovestruck. Love bites.
Sound familiar?
To me, these sound like the premise of every single romance novel I’ve ever (tried to) read. Predictable. Expected. Reduced to a common cliche.
My husband believes my aversion to the Romance genre is because I don’t appreciate romanticism - the spiritual (and sometimes inexplicable) attraction between two people. Or that a love story feels like goodness and redemption and I prefer the dark and moody stuff, with no expectation of a “happy ending.”
But that’s not it.
I have found Romance novels to be predictable, almost formulaic in structure and story. It is the lack of surprise in (most of) them, that keeps me out of the Romance aisle of the bookstore. I feel I can predict the ending before I make it to the first page.
But every year I vow to broaden my horizons, to try new things, to break my hardened mold of expectation. So, in this month of the Valentine, I’m going to read a book categorized as Romance but may not follow the genre “rules1.”
Here we go…
Here are the questions I’m keeping in mind as I read Good Material by Dolly Alderton:
Can a novel surprise by straying from the traditional narrative formula for Romance?
Can I imagine this story told in a different genre? If told in another way?
Is a “happy ending” inevitable? Would I be satisfied if it wasn’t?
Does the author use narrative techniques that don’t align with other Romance novels?
In what ways does the author assuage my skepticism? In what ways does she validate it?
I wonder if this will be the novel that establishes a new faith in the romance story. For those of you who read Romance regularly, what do you find most appealing about the genre? Do you have favorite Romance books? Authors?
In this challenging world we live in, I’d love to read more “happy endings,” more stories of LOVE, more hopeful coupling. Perhaps I’ll even turn into the romantic my husband wishes me to be!
To be clear, there are no real “rules,” just commonalities I’ve observed. I’ve read many synopses and reviews of this novel, and many indicate it is not the “typical” set. Specifically, it is told from a heartbroken man’s point of view, it is equally about friendship and self-love as it is about romantic love, it is comedy (but not irreverance).