Non-Fiction Friday: A Natural History of the Romance Novel

Author: Pamela Regis Title: A Natural History of the Romance Novel Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press Date Published: 04/26/2007

Read Dates: 07/05/2026- 07/09/2026
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐💫

This was my non-fiction pick for July.

A Natural History of the Romance Novel is a non-fiction book divided into four sections: Critics and the Romance Novel, The Romance Novel Defined, The Romance Novel 1740-1908 and The Twentieth-Century Romance Novel. 10 authors are specifically focused on, five for each time period. For 1740- 1908 the discussion is one book each from Samuel Richardson, Jane Austen, Charlotte Brontë, Anthony Trollope, and E.M. Forster. For the 20th century she focuses on four books each from Georgette Heyer, Mary Stewart, and Janet Dailey, six books written by Jayne Ann Krentz, and seven total from Nora Roberts. Other books are mentioned throughout as well, even if they don’t get a full chapter.

Written in 2003, it’s already out of date as the genre has grown and evolved. The definition used throughout the book focuses on an ending that includes a wedding or the promise of one (engagement), discusses exclusively heterosexual couples and lacks diversity in the authors and stories discussed. Given these limitations, I wouldn’t call it a definitive discussion on the Romance genre, but for what it is, I found it interesting. I was most interested in Part 3 (The Romance Novel 1740-1908). I had the most issues with Part 4, which was sloppily edited, in several chapters there were instances when characters names were confused and mixed up (for example, in the discussion of Janet Dailey’s “Ride the Thunder”, the heroine is sometimes referred to as Jordanna, and other times as Joanna). I also found it perplexing to include both Janet Dailey and Nora Roberts, given these limitations scandal of Janet Dailey admitting to having plagiarized 10 of Nora Roberts works (the scandal is mentioned in the book).

All-in-all, I found it interesting for the history, and it prompted me to add other books discussing Romance novels (including one by Jayne Ann Krentz) to my TBR

The romance novel has the strange distinction of being the most popular but least respected of literary genres. While it remains consistently dominant in bookstores and on best-seller lists, it is also widely dismissed by the critical community. Scholars have alleged that romance novels help create subservient readers, who are largely women, by confining heroines to stories that ignore issues other than love and marriage.

Pamela Regis argues that such critical studies fail to take into consideration the personal choice of readers, offer any true definition of the romance novel, or discuss the nature and scope of the genre. Presenting the counterclaim that the romance novel does not enslave women but, on the contrary, is about celebrating freedom and joy, Regis offers a definition that provides critics with an expanded vocabulary for discussing a genre that is both classic and contemporary, sexy and entertaining.

Taking the stance that the popular romance novel is a work of literature with a brilliant pedigree, Regis asserts that it is also a very old, stable form. She traces the literary history of the romance novel from canonical works such as Richardson's Pamela through Austen's Pride and Prejudice , Brontë's Jane Eyre , and E. M. Hull's The Sheik , and then turns to more contemporary works such as the novels of Georgette Heyer, Mary Stewart, Janet Dailey, Jayne Ann Krentz, and Nora Roberts.