The Wicked World of

Romance Books – An essay

on feminism, murder, sex,
and fake suicides.
- By Stéphanie
Vicintin de Vasconcellos

THE ROMANCE GENRE HAS ALWAYS BEEN A POWERHOUSE. Perhaps because

since it’s contemporary start in the eighteenth and nineteenth century, it has been a space for rev-
olution. Its evolution marked by its eternal crash with the status-quo. For instance, its beginnings
are found in an era when women were expected to be subservient and obedient to men, instead,
the genre provided female-kind with a space to govern unabashedly. More recently, it has broad-
ened its scope to fulfill the unmet needs of other minority groups as well, such as those of the
LGBTQ+ community, with queer romance literature exploding since the start of the 21st century.
Nonetheless, as Newtown’s third law of motion states “for every action, there is an equal and op-
posite reaction”. And for all its wondrous tradition of revolution,
the romance genre has not been immune to this, hiding an
equally deviant past just below the surface.
The earliest example that comes to mind is that of Char-
lotte Brontë; writer of one of the most renowned literary pieces
of all time: ‘Jane Eyre’. Despite oftentimes being remembered
as a prudish and dark hermitress of the moors, Brontë was far
closer to being a sex-crazed icon. Not only did she frequently
write to friends about her sexual frustrations and fantasies, she
also shamelessly pursued a far older and married man. Writing
him letters with brazen declarations such as “I would write a
book and dedicate it to my literature master - to the only master I
have ever had - to you Monsieur.”. When he did not share her affections, she went on to immor-
talized him as Mr. Rochester, her leading lady’s tempestuous and erotic hunk. In the novel; how-
ever, Jane’s love is reciprocated.
Fascinatingly, outspoken characters being rewarded with tamed rakes, is a trend of the
early days of the romance genre. Marked by it’s frustrated authors and their equally frustrated
audiences, these novels served them as an escape from their subservient and puritan role in soci-
ety. Hence, why this period is remembered as an era of defying social conventions. With books
such as ‘Pride and Prejudice’ and ‘Jane Eyre’ , rewarding the outspoken and/or independent fe-
male leads with the most desirable and wealthy of men and a life of happily-ever-afters.
The romance genre changes next during the culmination of the World-Wars. Namely,
when women were forced back into the role of housewife, after briefly tasting independence
when the men were off at war. Hence, this is an era still marked by escapism, but also by a new
desire: to be financially independent. Most novels were now being set in ‘exotic’ and distant lo-
cales, like the Wild West or Africa. And as for the leading ladies, albeit, just as lively as their
nineteenth century counterparts, they now held jobs. With stewardesses and nurses being the
most common professions. Yet, in spite of this early feministic
streak, these books are still notorious for their blatant racism,
xenophobia, and stereotyping.
For instance, the most popular romance novel of the time
‘Gone With The Wind’ by Margaret Mitchell, was released in
1936, and it quickly became a staple of American literature. De-
spite deserving merit for challenging social-constructs of the
time, ‘Gone With The Wind’ is still wretchedly racist in all ways
a work of fiction can be. For instance, it portrayed several histori-
cal fallacies in order to glorify the Confederate South, and conse-
quently, to demonize the Union Army and the Northern ‘Carpet-
Baggers’. Furthermore, it blatantly stereotyped African-Ameri-
cans, with several classic racist archetypes such as the “Mammy” and the “Black Brute” making
frequent appearances. And lastly, through characterization, Mitchell perpetuates the eugenics no-
tion that black people are inferior and stupider than their Caucasian counterparts. Writing no
leading black characters, as well as labeling all of them as, semi-alphabetized, naive, and two-di-
mensional supporting characters.
 Later, as the the sexual liberation movement reached its peak in the 1970’s, women once
again fended off to reform the genre for themselves. The “bodice-ripper” literary genre is born
out of female boredom with the asphyxiating world of male
pornography, which did little to satisfy them, and it had Kathleen E. Woodiwiss’s ‘The Flame
and the Flower’ as its founder. It was characterized best by the The New York Public Library as
“historical fiction novels that usually featured a beautiful, virginal, yet fierce and independent,
woman who would catch the attention of a handsome alpha male who would attempt to seduce
and dominate her.” In sum, they were those wickedly cheap paperbacks— the one with question-
able covers, your mothers, grandmas, and aunts, most likely hid under their beds in the eighties.
‘Boddice-ripper’ authors such as Danielle Steel and Kathleen E. Woodiwiss pushed the
limit with what female writers could get away with, as well as encouraged women to explore
crevices of themselves they weren’t previously even allowed to know of. Nonetheless, there is a
reason why this subgenre has been driven to its relative extinction, or at least the extinction of it
in its original format. Earlier novels were oftentimes littered with glorified sexual assault scenes.
These were incredibly graphic descriptions of rape that were most often written as acts of love
and/or necessary characterization for the domineering male romantic interests. Together with
bowl cuts, this is a trend that thankfully died off in the 1990s.
Lastly, we get to the 21st century. Similarly to the rest of our contemporary society, the
romance genre of today is characterized by the digital age. Specifically, it is defined by the rise
of self-publication programs like Amazon’s “Kindle Direct Publishing” or “Wattpad’. Which al-
low relatively anyone, to release relatively anything, with relatively little oversight. At first
glance, this seems to be only incredibly beneficial, since it grants aspiring authors with the un-
precedented opportunity to release their works. Furthermore, self-publication programs are re-
sponsible for fostering an avalanche of inclusivity that was
long past due. By virtue of these softwares, the genre, which
upwards to this century was predominated by white hetero-
sexual women, has now expanded to include protagonists of
all shapes, sizes, and walks of life.
Yet, with all this unfettered freedom, questionable individ-
uals (perhaps no longer muffled by the publishing world),
are now crawling from lime-work. For instance, I am re-
minded of the recent scandal of Miss Susan Meachen. A literotica writer of medium-sized fame,
Meachen faked her death for two years while she milked her fans for money to cover ‘funeral
costs’ and for the funds to release her ‘last’ book. However, two years later, Meachen was mys-
teriously resurrected and admitting to the hoax (although she provided no clear motive), she is
currently working on her next project, though there seems to be little traction. Refusing to refund
the donations, Meachen claims that although she didn’t kill herself, her fraudulent act served as a
lesson on cyber-bullying, as well as an example of writers are supposed to do. According to her,
she has the duty to live a life which borders the fictional to create exciting stories, and this has
all been research for her new book. In a way, Susan Meachen is the literotica equivalent of Jared
Leto, a method actor who doesn’t know where to draw the line.
Another curious tale is that of Nancy Brophy, an indie writer who commenced her career
as a romance novelist; that is, until she switched to thrillers when she published an essay titled
“How to Murder Your Husband”. This in itself wouldn’t be a problem, of course. However, Bro-
phy was later charged with murdering her husband. In true Agatha Christie fashion, she at-
tempted to frame the murder as a “robbery gone wrong”. To the police, she stated she had no rea-
son to kill her husband, that her only problem with him was that he “fattened her up” with his
cooking. Nonetheless, not even a week later she was caught desperately trying to cash in his life
insurance, the same insurance she had previously instructed him to upgrade to. Furthermore, at
this point, the police had already gained access to several of her gun purchase receipts, one of
which matched the gun used on her husband.
In sum, the romance genre has always been and always will be a revolutionary space. It is
a severely under appreciated corner of the literature world, that is brimming with expression and
creativity. To its readers, the genre stands for hope, escapism, independence, and courage, all
wrapped in a voguish silk red bow. Nonetheless, under the pretty wrapping and past “Pride and
Prejudice” and “The Notebook”, it hides its own dark and decrepitate side, a background of hor-
ror simply waiting to be explored.
 Sources used:
Image one: Dare I?  Charles Joseph Frederic Soulacroix (1825-1879)
Image two: Portrait of Charlotte Brontë by Evert A. Duyckinick
Image three: Gone With the Wind book cover 1999 Warner Books
Image four: ‘The Flame and the Flower’ Avon Books 1972 cover
Image five: Vittorio Reggianini  The Secret
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/14/romance-novelist-faked-death-susan-meachen
https://www.oxygen.com/true-crime-buzz/how-to-murder-your-husband-author-nancy-brophy-jailed-
for-husbands-death
https://www.nypl.org/blog/2019/02/15/brief-history-romance-novel-recommendations
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2005/mar/25/classics.charlottebronte
https://i-d.vice.com/en/article/g5q8dw/romance-novels-2022