The power of Lerve
Posted by: Toni Jordan
8 December 2008
I am a card-carrying member of Hopeless Romantics, Inc. Always have been, for as long as I can remember. I have been hopelessly in love with, in vaguely chronological order: Donny Osmond, James Reyne, Simon Le Bon, Han Solo (NOT Harrison Ford), Colin Firth (der)…well, the list goes on. I almost failed out of uni in my first year because I was utterly unable to concentrate on anything other than the sound of my own breathing if sitting next to a boy. Even now, well into my forties, I blush a sensational red if a handsome man kisses me on the cheek, even in the most brotherly fashion. (I blame my many years of girls-only convent education. Those nuns have a lot to answer for.) So it was only natural that anything I write should include a love story.
Many of my favourite novels are love stories. Fiona Capp’s Musk & Byrne (also on the summer reading list) is a recent favourite, and two of my all-time beloved books are A.S. Byatt’s Possession, and the incomparable Peter Carey’s Oscar and Lucinda. I also adore Pride and Prejudice, Much ado about nothing and Dorothy Sayer’s marvellous Gaudy night. So, with so many wonderful romance novels, why do books about love get such a bad wrap? Often in interviews I’m asked if Addition is ‘chick lit’, as if I’m expected to defend my writing against that kind of label. But as far as I can understand, ‘chick lit’ isn’t about the subject matter—it means ‘written for and marketed to young women’ (according to Wikipedia). I don’t think Addition meets either of those criteria. But if I reply: no, Addition isn’t chick lit, I feel like I’m criticising books that are, or worse, that I’m looking down my nose at young women readers. I’m caught in a Seinfeld sketch: I’m not a chick lit writer. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
But the label chick lit does imply that exclusivity, and I’ve had many kind comments about Addition from people of all ages and all walks of life: from the elderly retired male engineer who was delighted the world hadn’t forgotten about Nikola Tesla, to the female sufferer of obsessive compulsive disorder in her fifties who was so excited that someone understood.
My mother always said I’d get over being in love with love, but I haven’t yet. As Brother Arvide says in Guys and Dolls: Why would anyone wanna get over the thing you hope for from the minute you’re born and remember till the day you die? It seems such a short time ago that crime novels were simplistic whodunits. Now we have writers like Peter Temple and Shane Maloney who craft superbly written, intelligent and revealing stories about people, but the stories are based around a crime. Love stories can be just as terrific: think smart, sassy 1940s films starring Cary Grant or Katherine Hepburn, with sensational dialogue and important things to say.
December 9, 2008 at 7:01 pm
We sound so much alike. I too am in love with love. I love reading great romance novels (not the sappy, gooey, mushy stuff), just a good, realistic romance novel…. a perfect example of the type of books I love reading is “The Silent Note,” by Patrick Davis.
December 8, 2008 at 8:52 pm
Toni, I don’t think you’re a philistine for not having seen In the Mood for Love. In fact, I envy you. Turn down the light, have a martini or your favorite poison handy while you watch it and you are in for a treat. I was gobsmacked the first time I saw it. It’s beautiful, languid film.
December 8, 2008 at 6:46 pm
Simon you’ll think me a philistine but I’ve never seen ‘In the mood for love’! I am chastened and will rent it. Casablanca I love, of course. Lately I’ve been watching ‘North and South’ on DVD, the BBC at their costumed best. It stars Richard Armitage, who ruined the recent Robin Hood series for me by making his Sir Guy infinitely more romantic and complex than twee little Robin.
December 8, 2008 at 3:19 pm
Toni, which romantic films do you like? I don’t seem to get tired of watching “In the Mood for Love” and “Casablanca”.
December 8, 2008 at 12:31 pm
Hi there Toni,
I just finished reading Addition…and I loved it! Chick lit, sure, but so much more! Love is what gave Grace back her self worth and opened up the gates to her future filled with hope!
Beautifully written, I’ll be recommending it to everyone, not just young women. Thanks!
December 8, 2008 at 12:28 pm
Hi Toni,
I’m with you on the whole “love” thing and yet I fastidiously avoid “romance” novels of the Mills and Boon ilk. No that there’s anything wrong with them, I have friends who are hopelessly, happily addicted. I think for me it’s the element of surprise, I want to have my head turned, I want to experience a new way of thinking about things like love.
That’s why I loved “Addition”, as I’ve said before in previous blogs, I love it when fiction writers teach me something new while I’m too busy enjoying the story to notice (it’s the old “a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down”…), so the side story of Tesla was wonderful. I also loved how real Grace was, how much I identified with her, how her quirks were extreme but not so extreme I couldn’t relate. I loved that like the rest of us, well I should speak for myself here, she is just trying to wade through the muddle of life in the most authentic and least soul-destroying manner possible. And I love how Grace is so anxious and detached in some ways, but so sexy and human in others.
It’s a great book, Toni, I really loved it.
Oh, and I hope you don’t fall out of love with love, I think that would be sad. Besides you have readers like me waiting for more books about love that aren’t romances!
December 8, 2008 at 11:22 am
Sadly I think romance books (as per rom-com movies) can be pretty boring and formulaic. I know I’m always on the lookout for smart, sassy love stories - hopefully I’ll get to read more from you!