The best of historical romance

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How about a little romantic escape down memory lane? This is the privileged playground of historical romance where the unleashing of fiery feelings nestles at the heart of the greatest thrills of history. This combination of romantic intrigue, historical context, and charismatic characters makes historical romance a most enticing literary elixir for readers everywhere.

The big story in the background

Historical romance is first of all a clearly defined historical framework… The opportunity – and the pleasure – for readers to travel in space and time through eras, cultures and continents. European Middle Ages and Renaissance, Victorian 19th century and Regency, American Far West, great wars and great revolutions are among the favorite settings of historical romance. But they can just as easily land in ancient lands, between Rome and Athens, alongside the samurai of feudal Japan or even on the oceans, between pirates and corsairs.

Each era carries with it its authentic charm and its share of historical details. This often requires writers to carry out careful research to ensure that their stories are historically impeccable – because they know, readers can sometimes be ruthless! Colors and materials of clothing, linguistic subtleties, but also habits and customs and technological know-how, without forgetting, of course, the major events which punctuated the chosen era: nothing is left aside in order to make the romance the as tangible and immersive as possible. Simply, no more detailed descriptions of battles or other political contexts. The historical elements, as realistic as they are, must remain in the shadow of the love story, which remains the true beating heart of the story.

Heroes and heroines between quest for redemption and emancipation

In a historical romance, the love story must be beautiful, intense and passionate between fictional characters – most often between a man and a woman. Characters who will see their romance collide with very real historical events or figures. And this is where all the addictive dramatic force of historical romance lies. In this delicate cocktail of fiction and reality. The author takes advantage of the few gray areas left by the story, the true one, to intervene and unfold his romantic intrigue. A particularly charismatic hero and heroine, with often above-average physical and intellectual qualities. He, attractive, proud and sure of himself, respected and respectable, even if he may see his sense of honor undermined by the standards of his time. Sometimes carrying heavy secrets, he may find in love an escape to rebuild himself. She, strong and independent, romantic but realistic. A heroine whose beauty is matched only by her determination to emancipate herself from an oppressive moral and social shackles. In the end, complex characters launched in turn in their quest for redemption and freedom.

And through his characters, the author of historical romance addresses often universal themes, enough to resonate with the issues of his contemporary readers. Thus, it will often be about love, sacrifice, courage and resilience. Timeless themes bringing emotional depth to the historical plot.

At the origins of historical romance

Well before the Romanticism of the 18th-19th centuries, during which sensitivity, emotion and imagination came to shake up reason and morality, literature had already learned to speak of love, between epic stories, chivalry novels and folk tales. But it is to the Englishman Samuel Richardson that we owe one of the oldest romances: an incredible epistolary bestseller from 1740, his novel Pamela or virtue rewarded tells the story of a young woman of modest means who resists the advances of her suitor, an aristocrat, and ends up obtaining marriage and social ascension. Although it is not a historical romance strictly speaking, the book already laid the foundations of the genre.

Sir Walter Scott, on the other hand, appears to be an eminent representative of the historical novel. He single-handedly “romanticized” the entire kingdom of Scotland with his famous poem. The Lady of the Lake. But Walter Scott is also and above all the epic Ivanhoe ! Books that sparked renewed interest in historical periods, particularly the Middle Ages, by integrating romantic elements into its stories. A contemporary of Sir Walter Scott, let us also mention the essential Jane Austen whose novels of manners will be among the major references of historical romances to come. Among them Pride and Prejudice, Reason and Feelings, Emma, Northanger Abbey or Persuasion And Mansfield Park. Novels with distancing and scathing humor which, ironically, tended to criticize the sentimental novels of the 18th century.

However, it is this same Jane Austen that we find among the main sources of inspiration for Georgette Heyer, a 20th century British writer to whom the first historical romance is attributed, The Black Moth, in 1921. A romance set in the Georgian era. A true pioneer, Georgette Heyer worked extensively to popularize the genre through her novels set in 18th and 19th century England. Then there will be that other phenomenon of the historical romance novel, the eccentric and prolific British author Barbara Cartland who, with more than 700 novels to her credit including The Tower of Happiness, Threat to the castle Or The Meanders of Love, will have made the Victorian era his favorite cup of tea. And for once, it is to an American, Kathleen Woodiwiss, that we owe the birth certificate of modern historical romance with her novel When the hurricane subsides (1972), the first romance novel that “follows the main characters into the bedroom”. But an attack of chauvinism could just as easily push us to first evoke the French novel by Anne Golon, Angelic, incandescent Marquise of Angels.

The heiresses…

Today, historical romance has established itself as an essential subgenre of romance and a literary genre in its own right. If Georgette Heyer, Barbara Cartland and Kathleen Woodiwiss laid the foundations, they also knew how to arouse the desire to take up the pen among many novelists – most of them American. Worthy heirs who, in turn, continue to keep the burning flame of the historical romance novel alive. Among its representatives…

Julia Quinn

The American Julia Quinn is widely known and recognized for her successful novel series The Bridgerton Chronicles, also adapted into a TV show. A series which, in homage to Jane Austen, plunges us into the heart of an English high society family during the Regency era, at the beginning of the 19th century. But Julia Quinn is also The Smyth-Smith Quartet, The Blydons, The Rokesbys Or Crown Agents. She is one of the most popular authors of historical romance. Novels appreciated for their humor, lively dialogue and captivating plots.

Lisa Kleypas

It is one of Julia Quinn’s favorite readings… The pen removed, the romances always elegant, Lisa Kleypas places her universe in the right line of Bridgerton Chronicles. Of the Hathaway has The Round of the Seasonstwo of her best page-turners, the American writer plays wonderfully with London high society to unfold action, love and humor around female characters with strong characters, independent and supportive.

Diana Gabaldon

The saga Outlander, it’s her ! The literary series with 50 million readers also known under the title Thistle and Tartan, that of the first volume of the series. A unique work, on the border of genres between romance novel, historical novel and fantastic story. Diana Gabaldon literally takes us through time between modern Scotland in 1945 and that of the 18th century. Or when a war nurse and future surgeon falls in love with a Highland warrior.

Julie Garwood

Scotland also occupies an important place in Julie Garwood’s work. Through her stories steeped in mystery and adventure, between plots, revenge and power struggles, she has built a solid reputation as a storyteller – a merit that the writer attributes to her Irish origins. His historical romances, always very spicy, take us to the heart of medieval Scotland (Judith’s Secret) but she does not deprive herself, moreover, of varying the pleasures by also going to plant her romantic adventures in the essential England of the 19th century (An evil angel Or Rebel desire) or even in the heart of Montana (The Clayborn Brothers)

Tessa Dare

Tessa Dare often tops the New York Times bestseller lists. Her moment of abandonmentfirst volume in his successful series The Maidens of Spindle Cove, earned him the RITA Award in 2012 for best historical romance, category Regency. But Tessa Dare is also The Heiresses or his very first saga, Three destiniesinitiated by a very noted first volume, The Impulsivewhich has become a classic of the genre.