Regency romances are a subgenre of
romance novel
A romance novel or romantic novel generally refers to a type of genre fiction novel which places its primary focus on the relationship and romantic love between two people, and usually has an "emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending." Pre ...
s set during the period of the
British Regency
The Regency era of British history officially spanned the years 1811 to 1820, though the term is commonly applied to the longer period between and 1837. King George III succumbed to mental illness in late 1810 and, by the Regency Act 1811, ...
(1811–1820) or early 19th century. Rather than simply being versions of contemporary romance stories transported to a historical setting, Regency romances are a distinct
genre
Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...
with their own
plot
Plot or Plotting may refer to:
Art, media and entertainment
* Plot (narrative), the story of a piece of fiction
Music
* ''The Plot'' (album), a 1976 album by jazz trumpeter Enrico Rava
* The Plot (band), a band formed in 2003
Other
* ''Plot' ...
and
stylistic conventions. These derive not so much from the 19th-century contemporary works of
Jane Austen
Jane Austen (; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels, which interpret, critique, and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots of ...
, but rather from
Georgette Heyer
Georgette Heyer (; 16 August 1902 – 4 July 1974) was an English novelist and short-story writer, in both the Regency romance and detective fiction genres. Her writing career began in 1921, when she turned a story for her younger brothe ...
, who wrote over two dozen novels set in the Regency starting in 1935 until her death in 1974, and from the fiction genre known as the
novel of manners
A novel of manners is a work of fiction that re-creates a social world, conveying with detailed observation the customs, values, and mores of a highly developed and complex society. The conventions of the society dominate the action of the story, ...
. In particular, the more traditional Regencies feature a great deal of intelligent, fast-paced dialogue between the protagonists and very little explicit
sex
Sex is the trait that determines whether a sexually reproducing animal or plant produces male or female gametes. Male plants and animals produce smaller mobile gametes (spermatozoa, sperm, pollen), while females produce larger ones ( ova, of ...
or discussion of sex.
Subgenres
Many readers and writers of Regency romance make a distinction between "Traditional Regency Romance" and "Regency Historical". Many authors have started by writing Traditionals and subsequently written Historicals, including
Mary Balogh
Mary Balogh (born Mary Jenkins on 24 March 1944) is a Welsh-Canadian novelist writing historical romance, born and raised in Swansea. In 1967, she moved to Canada to start a teaching career, married a local coroner and settled in Kipling, Sas ...
,
Jo Beverley
Mary Josephine Beverley (née Dunn; 22 September 1947 – 23 May 2016) was a prolific English-Canadian writer of historical and contemporary romance novels from 1988 to 2016.
Her works are regarded as well researched, filled with historical de ...
,
Loretta Chase
Loretta Chase, née Loretta Lynda Chekani (born 1949) is an American writer of romance novels since 1987.
Biography
Loretta Lynda Chekani was born in 1949 in a family of Albanian origin. She studied at New England public schools before receiving ...
,
and
Mary Jo Putney
Mary Jo Putney (born in New York) is a best-selling American author of over twenty-five historical and contemporary romance novels. She has also published romantic fantasy novels as M.J. Putney. Her books are known for their unusual subject matt ...
.
Traditional Regency romance
The distinction rests on the genre definition of Regency Romance: works in the tradition of Georgette Heyer, with an emphasis on the primary romance plot, are considered traditional. Traditional Regency Romance writers usually pay close attention to historical detail, as their readers are notorious for noting errors, and the writers often do extensive research so they can clearly understand and replicate the voice of the genre.
After Heyer's novels became popular in the United States in the 1960s, many publishers began publishing other Regency-set books by new authors, including
Clare Darcy
Clare Darcy was the pseudonym used by the American novelist Mary Deasy (1914–1978) for her Regency Romance novels, i.e., novels set in Regency England. She was born on May 20, 1914 in Cincinnati, Ohio, and died in Ohio in May 1978. A number of ...
and
Elizabeth Mansfield
Paula Schwartz (1925-2003) was an American playwright and novelist. Schwartz was the author of 36 Regency romance novels under the pen name Elizabeth Mansfield and of mainstream fiction under the name Paula Reibel, Paula Jonas, and Paula Reid.
...
. Signet, Dell, and Fawcett were among those publishing Traditional Regencies in paperback; the latter eventually began a special imprint,
Fawcett Coventry, which published Regencies and romances from other historical periods.
Regency historical romance
The Regency-set books written by authors such as
Christina Dodd
Christina Dodd (born July 14, ?) is the best-selling American author of suspense and regency historical romance. She is a recipient of the RITA Award.
Biography
Dodd is the youngest of three daughters (her sisters are 8 and 10 years older tha ...
,
Eloisa James
Eloisa James is the pen name of Mary Bly (born 1962). She is a tenured Shakespeare professor at Fordham University who also writes best-selling Regency and Georgian romance novels under her pen name. Her novels are published in 30 countries and ...
, and
Amanda Quick
Amanda is a Latin feminine gerundive (i.e. verbal adjective) name meaning, literally, “she who must (or is fit to) be loved”. Other translations, with similar meaning, could be "deserving to be loved," "worthy of love," or "loved very much b ...
are generally considered to be Regency Historical works. Regency romances which may include more social realism, or, conversely, anachronistically modern characterization, might be classed by some as "Regency Historical", signifying that their general setting is in
Regency England
The Regency era of British history officially spanned the years 1811 to 1820, though the term is commonly applied to the longer period between and 1837. George III of the United Kingdom, King George III succumbed to mental illness in late 18 ...
, but the plot, characterization, or prose style of the work extends beyond the genre formula of the Regency romances published by Heyer and her successors. Characters may behave according to modern values, rather than Regency values.
The sensual Regency historical romance has been made popular in recent years by Mary Balogh, Jo Beverley, Loretta Chase, as well as
Lisa Kleypas
Lisa Kleypas (born 5 November 1964 in Temple, Texas) is a best-selling American author of historical and contemporary romance novels. In 1985, she was named Miss Massachusetts 1985 and competed in the Miss America 1986 pageant in Atlantic City ...
,
Stephanie Laurens
Stephanie Laurens (born in Ceylon, now Sri Lanka), is a best-selling Australian author of romance novels.
Biography
Stephanie Laurens was born on 14 August 1953 in Sri Lanka. When she was 5, her family moved to Melbourne, where she was rai ...
, and
Julia Quinn
Julie Pottinger (née Cotler; born 1970), better known by her pen name Julia Quinn, is a best-selling American author of historical romance fiction. Her novels have been translated into 41 languages, and have appeared on ''The New York Times'' Be ...
. These novels are much more explicit than the "Traditional Regency" works and include many more love scenes.
Common elements
Many Regency romance novels include the following:
* References to the
ton (le bon ton)
The ''ton'' was the high society in the United Kingdom during the late Regency era and the reign of King George IV, and later. The word means, in this context, "manners" or "style" and is pronounced as in French (). The full phrase is ''le bon t ...
* Depictions of social activities common during the
social season
The social season, or season, refers to the traditional annual period in the spring and summer when it is customary for members of the social elite of British society to hold balls, dinner parties and charity events. Until the First World War, ...
such as
carriage
A carriage is a private four-wheeled vehicle for people and is most commonly horse-drawn. Second-hand private carriages were common public transport, the equivalent of modern cars used as taxis. Carriage suspensions are by leather strapping an ...
rides, morning calls,
dinner parties
A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a Hospitality, host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will oft ...
,
routs,
plays
Play most commonly refers to:
* Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment
* Play (theatre), a work of drama
Play may refer also to:
Computers and technology
* Google Play, a digital content service
* Play Framework, a Java framework
* P ...
,
opera
Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...
s, assemblies,
balls, etc.
* References to, or descriptions of, athletic activities engaged in by fashionable young men of the period, including riding, driving, boxing, fencing, hunting, shooting, etc.
* Differences of social class
* Marriages of convenience: a marriage based on love was rarely an option for most women in the British Regency, as securing a steady and sufficient income was the first consideration for both the woman and her family.
* False engagements
* Cyprians (sex workers), demireps (women of ill repute),
mistress
Mistress is the feminine form of the English word "master" (''master'' + ''-ess'') and may refer to:
Romance and relationships
* Mistress (lover), a term for a woman who is in a sexual and romantic relationship with a man who is married to a ...
es and other women employed by
rakehells and men from the upper classes
* Mistaken identity, deliberate or otherwise
*
Mystery
Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters
*Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strange''
Films
* ''Mystery'' (2012 film), a 2012 Chinese drama film
* ''Mystery'' ( ...
or
farce
Farce is a comedy that seeks to entertain an audience through situations that are highly exaggerated, extravagant, ridiculous, absurd, and improbable. Farce is also characterized by heavy use of physical humor; the use of deliberate absurdity o ...
elements in the plot
Popularity of the genre
Like other fiction genres and subgenres, Regencies experience cyclic popularity swings.
The readership waned during the 1990s with the rise of
historical romance
Historical romance is a broad category of mass-market fiction focusing on romantic relationships in historical periods, which Walter Scott helped popularize in the early 19th century.
Varieties Viking
These books feature Vikings during the Da ...
s (and the switch of many Regency writers to the historical genre). In the early 2000s, both Regencies and other historical romances lost popularity in favor of contemporary settings. The market in the United States was hurt by changes in distributing and retailing romances. The last two major U.S. publishers to produce the shorter "traditional" Regencies regularly were
Zebra
Zebras (, ) (subgenus ''Hippotigris'') are African equines with distinctive black-and-white striped coats. There are three living species: the Grévy's zebra (''Equus grevyi''), plains zebra (''E. quagga''), and the mountain zebra (''E. zeb ...
and
Signet. This ended in 2005, when
Zebra
Zebras (, ) (subgenus ''Hippotigris'') are African equines with distinctive black-and-white striped coats. There are three living species: the Grévy's zebra (''Equus grevyi''), plains zebra (''E. quagga''), and the mountain zebra (''E. zeb ...
stopped their traditional Regency line, and early 2006, when
Signet ended its Regencies. There are some new "traditional" Regencies still published in the United States; some of the few publishers that still do so are
Avalon Books
Avalon Books (originally Bouregy & Curl) was a small New York-based book publishing imprint active from 1950 through 2012, established by Thomas Bouregy. Avalon was an important science fiction imprint in the 1950s and 60s; later its specialty ...
,
Five Star Books, and Cerridwen Press (Cotillion). Previously published Regencies are also available through the second-hand book market, via
Belgrave House (which publishes out-of-print books), and as e-book reprints.
The Regency subgenre changed somewhat during the 1990s and 2000s, when authors began incorporating more sex into their novels, under pressure from a changing reader base. While some long-time readers balked, publishers viewed the inclusion of sex scenes as a means of keeping the subgenre afloat. The goal was to appeal to a new generation of readers while still delivering the witty and clever plotlines loyal readers love. Regency romance authors such as Sandra Heath, Anita Mills, and
Mary Balogh
Mary Balogh (born Mary Jenkins on 24 March 1944) is a Welsh-Canadian novelist writing historical romance, born and raised in Swansea. In 1967, she moved to Canada to start a teaching career, married a local coroner and settled in Kipling, Sas ...
were the first to write about sexual relationships between the hero and heroine (or more rarely, between the hero and his mistress).
Not all Regency romance novels are frothy period pieces. Such authors as Balogh,
Carla Kelly
Carla Sue Kelly (born 1947) is an American writer in the Regency romance genre. She is the author of over forty books and short stories. Her books are what romance readers call "keepers," i.e. books they keep in their private collections, and acc ...
,
Sheila Bishop, and
Mary Jo Putney
Mary Jo Putney (born in New York) is a best-selling American author of over twenty-five historical and contemporary romance novels. She has also published romantic fantasy novels as M.J. Putney. Her books are known for their unusual subject matt ...
all depict the underbelly of Regency society, exploring a variety of social ills in their novels. Some authors feature seriously troubled heroes and heroines, who suffer from post-battle trauma, alcoholism, depression, and the like.
[Karen Wheless. "A Reader on Regencies" ''All About Romance.''. with responses from readers included. ]
References
Sources
*
Jennifer Kloester, ''Georgette Heyer’s Regency World'' (2011)
External links
The Regency and Post-Regency Period, from ''All About Romance''The Beau Monde Regency Writer's OrganizationGood Ton: A Resource for Regency readers & writers lists nearly all Regencies published by five houses. Reviews many hard-to-find books.
Regency Reader
{{DEFAULTSORT:Regency Romance
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Romance
Romance (from Vulgar Latin , "in the Roman language", i.e., "Latin") may refer to:
Common meanings
* Romance (love), emotional attraction towards another person and the courtship behaviors undertaken to express the feelings
* Romance languages, ...