When it comes to novels that see a spike in sales during crisis, history tells us the romance genre has long come to our aid when things get tough.
From the literary classics Jane Eyre and Pride and Prejudice to The Notebook and Until the End of Time, stories of love have always lifted our hearts and minds when we need it the most.
So we asked local multi-award winning and international best-selling authors Anita Heiss, Tania Joyce, Ally Blake and Sarah Williams for their favourites and why love stories mean so much to them..
ANITA HEISS
Real love, true romance knows now boundaries, it has consumed us as humans for tens of thousands of years.
True romance is the story of hope.
If you asked me in my 20s what my favourite romantic novel was, I would’ve said Jane Austen’s Emma. It was the first novel about romance and matchmaking that I’d read. We studied it for the NSW Higher School Certificate, and while the world of Emma was a century, social-classes and cultures away from mine in the suburbs of working-class Sydney, the story was hopeful. And that’s what romance is. Always hopeful.
In my 30s when I was starting to write novels about love and romance, I still looked to Jane Austen as the model storyteller in the area – let’s face it, she was the original chick lit author. But now, in my 50s, romance means something different.
Of course, there needs to be chemistry and moments of desperate passion. But romance in later life, in my mind, is found in the shared values, the life-experiences and the desire for respectful companionship. And the older I get, it’s in the importance of taking control of whatever the current situation you are in. Because, life with or without romance, is not a dress rehearsal.
The story that speaks to me of that reality, that later in life romantic journey, is the novel Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf. The story is of Addie Moore and Louis Waters, neighbours for decades, both widowed and now seeking companionship in their later years. It starts as a bold invitation by Addie for Louis to join her in bed of an evening to alleviate the depths of loneliness she feels.
What we see is a journey of two beautiful souls who find romance in no longer caring what the locals or their children think, but focusing on their own emotional needs. And in turn each other’s.
I think Addie will be a role model for so many, giving the green light to taking control, and finding something special where hope may have all been lost. Hope, the key ingredient in all romance novels, and in life. The movie version of Our Souls at Night starring Robert Redford and Jane Fonda made me love the novel more and read it again. Unlike the film version of The Bridges of Maddison County the best-selling romance novel by Robert James Waller. I read that novel three times in as many months back in 1995. Then I saw the film shortly after, only to have my romantic visions destroyed by Clint Eastwood as the lead male.
Is the book better than the film? Definitely in this case.
Anita Heiss is a multi-award winning author and Wiradjuri woman Anita Heiss has written across genres including chic-lit, historical fiction poetry and nonfiction. She is a passionate advocate for indigenous literacy, was named one of Bulletin magazine’s Smart 100 and her memoir Am I Black Enough for You was a finalist in the 2012 Human Rights Awards. Her adult novels include Not Meeting Mr Right, Avoiding Mr Right, Manhattan Dreaming, Paris Dreaming and Tiddas which is being adapted for the stage by La Boite Theatre. Her novel Barbed Wire and Cherry Blossoms was longlisted for the Dublin International Literary Prize.
ALLY BLAKE.
Many a Mills & Boon novel has got people through chemo, or the death of a spouse or just a hard day at work … knowing that’s what these books do I love that.
Asking a romance novelist to choose their favourite romance novel, or romance in a novel, is cruel and unusual treatment.
So, I will pick a favourite. So the others can rest assured I love them dearly.
I choose US Jennifer Crusie’s Welcome to Temptation (St Martins’ Press, 2000). Why? Phinneas ‘Phinn’ Tucker for one. I love a hero who is comfortable in his own skin. Capable. Great at pool ....
Whether it’s love for a purpose or a place, a partner or a child, love grounds us. And from that strong base we feel might stretch ourselves, try new things, not be so afraid of failure, knowing we have a safe place to fall.
From the outside, a romance novel is the story of two people falling in love, but at its heart a it is a tale of hope, of overcoming, of shared human experience. We see ourselves in the lead characters. So as they face their fears, step outside their comfort zones, as they learn mutual respect, trust, kindness, self-worth, and what’s most important to them, we do the same. Learning to love ourselves better, and become more open to letting others love us too, just as we are.
As an aside, my favourite quote about love stories is the very last line of Sex and the City TV series, when Carrie’s voice over says: The most exciting, challenging and significant relationship of all is the one you have with yourself. And if you can find someone to love the you that you love, well, that’s just fabulous.
Ally Blake has sold more than four millions copies of her books worldwide and is published by the iconic publishing house Harlequin Mills & Boon. With her 40th book, since first publishing in 2003, just completed and her latest novel Crazy About Her Impossible Boss out now.
TANIA JOYCE.
Romance is a part of life … it still speaks to me in the same way as it did when I first started reading it and it probably has more of an effect on me now than when I was younger because of life experiences.
It is hard for me to pinpoint one favourite romance novel. I have many.
Novels that trigger raw, deep emotion are the ones I remember most.
I love a good heart wrenching, make-you-ugly-cry romance, as well as stories that tug on your heartstrings. It’s what I like to write too.
I first fell in love with romance novels reading the Anne of Green Gables series by Canadian author L.M. Montgomery when I was a teenager. Anne’s feistiness and ambition stuck with me.
Now as an adult, I love reading about strong women who are successful, strive to better themselves, overcome their personal struggles and go on a journey to find love…and get to have some mind-blowing sex along the way. Intense conflict, great tension and fiery chemistry will have me devouring the pages. The path to finding love is not always easy. Everyone has demons, issues, and different circumstances. Any story that has me drowning in empathy for the characters and wondering how they will achieve their happily ever after (or happy for now) will have me hooked.
Romance is a part of life…and it’s not all about sex. Far from it. It’s about making relationships work, overcoming obstacles and fighting for someone you love. Romance is much more appealing to me than focusing on crime, terror and the horrors in the world.
Does romance still speak to me in the same way as it did when I first started reading it?
It probably has more of an effect on me now than when I was younger because of life experiences – the good and the bad. Love, heartache, marriage, kids, career, health, travel, dreams and “oh remember when we did stuff like that” have compounded into one enormous emotional bank to draw on when reading and writing. LOL.
With all good romance, evoking emotion is key.
Tania Joyce is the author of new adult, rock star and contemporary romance novels that bring billionaires, bad boys and rock stars together in glittering prose set against backdrops as diverse as New York to the countryside of the Hunter Valley. She loves a “strong-minded, career-oriented” hero and heroine who will risk “everything as they endeavour to find their happily-ever-after”.
SARAH WILLIAMS
“I love to believe in fairy tale stories and that absolute connection with one person”.
My favourite romance novel is The Country Girl by Australian author Cathryn Hein. It is a moving and uplifting rural romance about facing hard truths and moving on in pursuit of life. I first read it when it 2018 and to me it is everything a small town, Australian romance should be - strong friendships, a passionate love story and true blue Aussie characters. It’s definitely one of those escapism romance novels. I love to believe in fairy tale stories and that absolute connection with one person that is really worth fighting for .. finding two people who will fight together and find enough in that partnership.
Sarah Williams grew up chasing sheep, riding horses and picking Kiwi fruit on the family orchard in rural New Zealand. Now the internationally best-selling romance writer splits her time between her weekly podcast Write with Love, writing and running workshops. She has four children.
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