tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-630346294397505634.post4531017401700967614..comments2024-03-28T07:00:12.226-04:00Comments on Romance Novels for Feminists: Feminism and Social Class in Kristan Higgins' MY ONE AND ONLYJackie C. Hornehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04146684628443152376noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-630346294397505634.post-90373673172444527662013-04-19T21:03:49.899-04:002013-04-19T21:03:49.899-04:00"would love to hear of any other romances wit..."would love to hear of any other romances with working class heroes AND heroines"<br /><br />I have a great story to recommend!!!I am an avid reader of historical romance and historical fiction.My most recent find is, "Shanghai Love" by author Layne Wong ((http://laynewong.com/). The main character, Peilin, is a woman of honor and tradition. She is betrothed to marry a man but he is killed before her wedding. Bound by duty she takes his name and adopts his family as her own. A young, vibrant character, married to a ghost and stuck in what seems to be a hopeless situation. The story takes place in World War 2 and brings Peilin to Shanghai to look after her deceased husband's family herbal medicine shop. She is introduced to a new world and new people. Shanghai is also Henri's destination as he has graduated from medical school as Hitler is rising to power. The young Jewish refugee soon meets Peilin and you can guess what happens from there! It's beautifully written and allows some time for their relationship to grow and develop. You really want these two to end up together and be happy :) I hope you check it out! Thanks for sharing your favorites with us! Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06791898643956493766noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-630346294397505634.post-90078880129583232472013-04-13T20:12:12.588-04:002013-04-13T20:12:12.588-04:00Parchita:
Yes, I could have written an entire sec...Parchita:<br /><br />Yes, I could have written an entire second post about Nick and Harper's relationship, especially about how the romance founders the first time, and almost the second time, because Nick doesn't acknowledge Harper's professional identity and needs. When Harper left NYC the second time, I took it as due in large part to Nick's assumption that she'd immediately drop everything and move to where he was. The epilogue shows that Nick ended up being the one to move (although Harper, too, had to move to Boston part-time) to make their relationship ultimately viable, but I do wish we as readers had the chance to overhear the conversation during which these agreements between the two were hammered out.<br /><br />Your last comment really strikes a chord with me. So often when women talk about their career and family choices, they explain their decisions as individual, person choices. But so often those "personal" decisions have been heavily influenced by social expectations, particularly the social expectations that their own partners come into the relationship with. We need to keep talking about why our different societies still agrees that men sacrificing career for family means something different than women sacrificing the same.<br /><br />I will be on the look-out for romances in which career goals clash, and the man, rather than the woman, is the one who sacrifices...Jackie C. Hornehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04146684628443152376noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-630346294397505634.post-4040722254358566642013-04-10T12:40:04.881-04:002013-04-10T12:40:04.881-04:00Great post Jackie! When I read "My one and on...Great post Jackie! When I read "My one and only" what bothered me the most was Nick´s assumption that Harper will follow him to New York and drop everything that was going on in her life to live with him. Although Kristan fixed that in the end, it appeared as part of Nick´s commitment to Harper and their relationship, not because he acknowledged she had the right to keep her job and her life in Martha´s. Since this particular problem is something we -real women with careers- deal with all the time I hoped Kristan would say something about it. I live in Latin America, where women have jobs but not careers. It is not socially acceptable to put your career in the first place (over family) and is common sense that is the woman the one who has to sacrifice her personal expectations if his man needs to move someplace else, or if they want to have children. I would like to read something about this particular issue, not just because I need a little bit of hope, but because these are real problems women like me have to cope with all the time. Sometimes our "Nicks" are not willing to make personal sacrifices, not just because they don´t want to but because society agrees they don´t need to. What do you think? parchitahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03157526014200811130noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-630346294397505634.post-47259861579037016412013-04-10T09:56:16.912-04:002013-04-10T09:56:16.912-04:00Thanks, Teri Anne, for your comments. This is defi...Thanks, Teri Anne, for your comments. This is definitely a difficult issue for writers to grapple with; makes us confront our own class biases and assumptions when we portray characters who are from a different class. And humor adds an additional complication -- a lot of humor is based on laughing at people who are "other," one of those others being social class. I didn't enjoy Kristan Higgins' latest book as much as MY ONE AND ONLY, because it had a thread about a golddigging potential stepmother, used for comedic purposes, but which edged uncomfortably into the "let's laugh at the crassness of this obviously classless woman" territory for me.Jackie C. Hornehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04146684628443152376noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-630346294397505634.post-44912739714112028172013-04-10T09:50:50.152-04:002013-04-10T09:50:50.152-04:00Kat:
The very first book I reviewed here on RNFF ...Kat:<br /><br />The very first book I reviewed here on RNFF was Dahl's START ME UP. And I really do love the class ideas in LEAN ON ME -- class is as much about how we dress and behave as it is about how much education we have, or how much money we earn. And what it takes to cross class lines without giving your roots away (both in the positive and negative senses of "giving away").<br /><br />And yes, her books are hot :-)Jackie C. Hornehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04146684628443152376noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-630346294397505634.post-68081589938539090242013-04-10T09:48:24.208-04:002013-04-10T09:48:24.208-04:00Oh, yes, I had forgotten those working-class bicep...Oh, yes, I had forgotten those working-class biceps...Jackie C. Hornehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04146684628443152376noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-630346294397505634.post-91658438417054403382013-04-10T08:31:09.985-04:002013-04-10T08:31:09.985-04:00Great post. Very thought-provoking.
For contempor...Great post. Very thought-provoking.<br /><br />For contemporaries, I loved how the class differences play out in Victoria Dahl's <a href="http://www.victoriadahl.com/books-Contemporary.php#SMUdetail" rel="nofollow">Start Me Up</a>. The heroine is a mechanic and runs her own business from her home. She took over the business when her dad suffered a debilitating brain injury. The hero is an architect, and their different assumptions about what life has to offer and the ways they've faced challenges initially pushes them apart before they learn how to deal with those differences and respect each other for them.<br /><br />I also loved her book <a href="http://www.victoriadahl.com/books-Contemporary.php#LMOdetail" rel="nofollow">Lean On Me</a>, about a working-class heroine who's trying so hard to be the classy secretary to the above-mentioned architect - and who really resents the fact that she's hot for a tatted guy who blows shit up for a living. <br /><br />Plus, her books are hot.Kat Lathamhttp://katlatham.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-630346294397505634.post-13229430499222699522013-04-09T20:12:19.935-04:002013-04-09T20:12:19.935-04:00A LADY'S LESSON IN SCANDAL by Meredith Duran. ...A LADY'S LESSON IN SCANDAL by Meredith Duran. It's a bit of a Cinderella story; she does marry a titled man; but we get a lot of detail about her hardscrabble life. And the hero admires her working-class biceps :)<br />Cecilia Granthttp://ceciliagrant.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-630346294397505634.post-89810689334128263452013-04-09T20:06:06.667-04:002013-04-09T20:06:06.667-04:00Lady's Companion is Regency. David, the bailif...Lady's Companion is Regency. David, the bailiff, has actually come up in the world class-wise to become bailiff. He comes across to me as very much from the working class, not the middle class. <br /><br />I'm still trying to think of other examples. :)Wendyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17166615204156345305noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-630346294397505634.post-15980523355649616452013-04-09T17:23:14.342-04:002013-04-09T17:23:14.342-04:00Thanks, Wendy, for the recommendation. Carla Kelly...Thanks, Wendy, for the recommendation. Carla Kelly seems to be one of the few historical authors who portrays working men and women. Not sure a bailiff or a lady's companion would be considered members of the laboring classes, though -- guess it would depend on if you held a tripartite view of class (lower, middle, and upper), as we do today, or if you embraced a genteel/plebeian view of class, which was more common during the Regency period. Is THE LADY'S COMPANION Victorian, or earlier?Jackie C. Hornehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04146684628443152376noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-630346294397505634.post-74345564316711393792013-04-09T13:30:31.650-04:002013-04-09T13:30:31.650-04:00The Lady's Companion, by Carla Kelly, deals wi...The Lady's Companion, by Carla Kelly, deals with class differences. The heroine is an upper-class woman who has to take a job as a lady's companion and eventually marries a bailiff.Wendyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17166615204156345305noreply@blogger.com