Romance Archives - Public Books https://www.publicbooks.org/tag/romance/ a magazine of ideas, arts, and scholarship Sat, 17 Jan 2026 02:19:35 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 https://www.publicbooks.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/cropped-favicon-2-300x300.png Romance Archives - Public Books https://www.publicbooks.org/tag/romance/ 32 32 Genre Juggernaut: Measuring “Romance” https://www.publicbooks.org/genre-juggernaut-measuring-romance/ Fri, 10 Nov 2023 16:00:11 +0000 https://www.publicbooks.org/?p=54271 For its scale and internal complexity alone, the literary genre of “romance” warrants more study than it has received.

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]]> The Broken Promises of “Bridgerton” https://www.publicbooks.org/the-broken-promises-of-bridgerton/ Wed, 09 Jun 2021 15:00:30 +0000 https://www.publicbooks.org/?p=43650 The show portrays a racially diverse society, but papers over white-supremacist interracial sexual assault and violence. Was there another way?

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]]> B-Sides: Gene Stratton-Porter’s “A Girl of the Limberlost” https://www.publicbooks.org/b-sides-gene-stratton-porters-a-girl-of-the-limberlost/ Thu, 16 Jan 2020 16:00:48 +0000 https://www.publicbooks.org/?p=33350 All but forgotten today, Gene Stratton-Porter was—in the early 20th century ...

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]]> Quit Playing Games with My Heart https://www.publicbooks.org/quit-playing-games-with-my-heart/ Tue, 05 Nov 2019 16:00:00 +0000 https://www.publicbooks.org/?p=31905 Robert first catches my eye from across the coffee shop. New to the neighborhood, I’m looking for a friendly face. But Robert—glaring back at me from over his mug ...

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]]> For the Love of Doughnuts https://www.publicbooks.org/for-the-love-of-doughnuts/ Fri, 01 Jun 2018 15:00:28 +0000 http://www.publicbooks.org/?p=21291 On the surface, Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie tells the story of Minerva and Cal, who fall in love with each other. Really, though, Bet Me is a story about a fat woman ...

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]]> American Romances, Russian Realities https://www.publicbooks.org/american-romances-russian-realities/ Wed, 09 May 2018 15:00:41 +0000 http://www.publicbooks.org/?p=20682 Readers of contemporary Anglo-American romance novels expect a certain kind of happily ever after. The protagonist is supposed to find a good partner who ...

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]]> Robot and Juliet https://www.publicbooks.org/robot-and-juliet/ Mon, 27 Nov 2017 15:59:32 +0000 http://www.publicbooks.org/?p=17256 What makes us fall in love with technology? In those enchanting early days, new tech can seduce with expanded horizons, allowing us to travel faster and farther, or connect across longer distances; and we appreciate this ...

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]]> Slavery Was No Opera https://www.publicbooks.org/slavery-was-no-opera/ Fri, 11 Aug 2017 15:00:59 +0000 http://www.publicbooks.org/?p=14792 “This was no love story,” Nikky Finney cautions us in “Pluck.” The poem from her 1995 collection, Rice, is a repudiation of Hollywood’s insidious fantasies about sex and American slavery. Prompted by …

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]]> Wild States of Being https://www.publicbooks.org/wild-states-of-being/ Fri, 14 Jul 2017 15:00:45 +0000 http://www.publicbooks.org/?p=14052 A lacquered blue cube and a cat named Labes: these nonhuman characters shed unforgiving light on human frailty in the wrenching new novel by Italian writer Domenico Starnone, Ties, scrupulously ...

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]]> Disability and the Romance Novel https://www.publicbooks.org/disability-and-the-romance-novel/ Mon, 19 Jun 2017 15:00:41 +0000 http://www.publicbooks.org/?p=13517 In the world of romance, love can and does heal all wounds. The scars of loss or romantic betrayal, the traumatic aftereffects of abuse or neglect ...

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