I love reading (and writing) about twenty-somethings being romanced by billionaires and royals (see Royal Risk, for example). But I also enjoy reading about women just like me – those of a not-so-golden age, who are looking at thirty down the wrong end of a telescope. Heroines like that are few and far between. I’ve recently been enjoying a collection of Mrs Miniver stories. Assuming Kay Miniver to be roughly the same age as her author, Jan Struther, Kay is a good example of an interesting heroine in her thirties. The film version was a box-office smash in its day (1942). Winston Churchill said it was a huge boost to morale during the darkest days of the Second World War.
I know plenty of romance writers, and we’re all women of sensible years. Whatever eras we write about, whatever tropes we employ, we all have one thing in common. We know what it was like to be young. On the other hand, I’ve read plenty of romantic fiction written by people who assume that a woman’s emotional needs and development cease the second she enters her fourth decade.
They call any woman over thirty “mature” (as though that was a bad thing, which it isn’t) or say she “looks good for her age”.
It isn’t only male writers doing that. Younger writers, of whatever gender or persuasion, seem amazed that women don’t shatter like meringue once they reach middle age.
Why don’t more romance authors write about older protagonists? Blame the advertising industry. The painful fact is that in today’s fast and furious marketplace, it’s youth that sells. Publishers know that including a winsome young woman or a beautiful young couple on a cover shifts books. Fulfilling reader expectation is a major part of the unwritten contract between publisher and book-buyer. If Romance readers choose a novel with dewy young cover stars, they complain if the heroine turns out to be middle-aged. A hero who, in the book, is much older than his strapping twenty-five year old cover version wouldn’t suffer such ageism. That’s unfair, but it’s an investigation for another day.
Embracing the Mature Protagonist
Fancy LLC is a New York advertising agency dedicated to elevating what is important to women. Fancy’s founding partner and co-chief creative officer Katie Keating wrote about the perception of women (quoted by John Oswald here):
‘There are 83 million women over 40 in [the United States]. That’s a full 25% of the population. Put another way, 1 in 4 Americans is a woman over 40. And half of those are women between the ages of 40 and 60. Think about the women over 40 in your life. Are they playing bingo and birdwatching or are they working hard, kicking ass, and living life?’
Anybody who needs convincing that middle age is only the start should listen to the Sophie Tucker song, Life Begins at Forty. Sophie was a big woman in every way. She was a singer, comedian, actress, and radio personality who outworked and out-dazzled Hollywood starlets half her age. Known as The Last of the Red-Hot Mamas, Sophie recorded this, at a time when the entertainment and advertising industries revolved around ditzy young celebrities.
That’s the spirit!
Real women don’t stop at thirty, so why should the protagonists of Romance books? The feverish piston and valve work which is such an enjoyable part of escapist romances might not come easily (so to speak!) to some older heroines, but that makes it easy to relate to them. Variety is the spice of reading matter, as well as life.
Some novels already treat mature protagonists well. The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks, Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson, Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel by Deborah Moggach, all feature older, diverse characters who find love and new beginnings in unexpected places. These books have succeeded while defying ageist norms.
I started thinking about the topic of embracing the mature protagonist while working on my current novel, Kitten Cupid. While my hero and heroine are both under thirty, Amy Trubshaw, a minor character, has been tugging at my sleeve. She wants her own story. As soon as I can, I’m going to write one for her.
Amy is a seventy-something wheelchair user with a racy past. As a single parent fifty years ago, she learned to duck and dive to hide her unmarried status. Her ultra-respectable daughter, Brenda, doesn’t know that her own father could have been any one of a number of men. Amy has no intention of growing old gracefully. Marriage wasn’t for her, but she knows her middle-aged daughter yearns for romance. That’s why, in the next short story I write, Amy Trubshaw will secretly turn matchmaker. She’s lived an independent life happily enough, but she can see the benefits of living within a relationship – especially where her daughter is concerned.
The Romance genre is constantly evolving. Why don’t we start a campaign to champion mature protagonists? We can encourage a broader acceptance and inclusion of them in romance literature by showing that’s what we want to read. Word of mouth is a great marketing tool. We can review and recommend stories that reflect the richness and diversity of love and romance at every age. Asking your local library to stock these books would be more proof that there is a market for them.
Do you prefer your heroines to be young and curious, or older and more worldly-wise? Whether you are a writer or a reader, I’d love you to add your comments below!
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A couple of years ago I attended an RNA conference where 2 very young Mills & Boon editors ran a workshop. I asked why they didn’t have any love interests over forty. Blank looks, as though they didn’t understand the quesiton.
I think things are changing, though, and the industry is waking up to the fact that love doesn’t stop at 30 or forty! Fingers crossed for that book.
Thanks, Sue! I know exactly what you mean. It seems like all the top executives in the publishing industry are older men, while all the editors are women in their twenties, with gazelle-like physiques. Not fair, is it? Let’s hope the tide is finally turning!