Literature Atlas

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Genre

Romance Novel

The Novel and Its Forms

Romance, or romance fiction, most famously in the form of the romance novel, is the genre of narrative fiction whose works focus on the romantic love and budding relationship between two or more characters, often concluding with an emotionally satisfying or optimistic ending. As a conventional form of genre fiction, it emerged from pioneering authors writing in modern English, including Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters and Samuel Richardson, and today spans many subgenres and settings while keeping romantic relationships as its central focus.

Facts
Place of Origin
United Kingdom 1
Notable Example
The Black Moth (1921) by Georgette Heyer, her first romance novel 1
Defining Trait
A narrative built around a developing romantic relationship between the central characters that resolves in an emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending 1
Connections

Encompasses Form

Form Of Genre

Romance, Genres
In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Wikipedia
Wikipedia
  • Wikipedia: Romance novel, lead section
    The British company Mills & Boon began releasing romance novels for women in the 1930s.
  • Wikipedia: Romance novel, origins paragraph
    Heyer's first romance novel, The Black Moth (1921), was set in 1751.
  • Wikipedia: Romance novel, Definition section
    The Romance Writers of America's definition of romance novels includes only the focus on a developing romantic relationship and an optimistic ending.
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