Why are some romance books listed under fiction as their genre?

I’ve noticed at my local bookstores, Chapters, Indigo and Coles here in Canada, that there are some romance books in the fiction section. For example, Nicholas Sparks books are all in the fiction section as well as Jane Austen and others that are clearly romances. It’s not that they’re the cheesey romances you would find in the supermarket, but they’re still romances, why aren’t they in the romance section? What makes these in the fiction and the other romances in romance? Where do you draw the line?
Thank you.

There are two very distinct types of romance novels: classic romance and modern romance. Modern romance was born in the early 1970’s. It’s somewhat trashy and explicit. The romance section is populated by modern romance novels. Pick up a romance from the romance section and read it. Read a few of them. Compare what you’ve read to Jane Austen. The differences in the two types should be crystal clear.

Other novels may contain some romance without having romance and sex being the driving force behind the story. I call these classic romance, and they areshelved within the general fiction section. This is done to provide a clear separation from the modern romance novel. Examples of classic romance include Atonement, Birdsong, Pride and Prejudice, and Corelli’s Mandolin. Sure there is romance in the novels, possibly even some sex. However, the main story is not simply how two people hooked up.

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 25th, 2011 at 12:13 am and is filed under romance books. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

5 Responses to “Why are some romance books listed under fiction as their genre?”

Bill on December 25th, 2011 at 5:33 am

Romance is a subset of fiction.
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JohnnieAstro on December 25th, 2011 at 5:57 am

Literary classics can be off putting to some.

And Romance underrates them.

The nature of the human condition is a nearer match for Austen, but not very snappy.
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Kelley on December 25th, 2011 at 6:06 am

There are two very distinct types of romance novels: classic romance and modern romance. Modern romance was born in the early 1970’s. It’s somewhat trashy and explicit. The romance section is populated by modern romance novels. Pick up a romance from the romance section and read it. Read a few of them. Compare what you’ve read to Jane Austen. The differences in the two types should be crystal clear.

Other novels may contain some romance without having romance and sex being the driving force behind the story. I call these classic romance, and they areshelved within the general fiction section. This is done to provide a clear separation from the modern romance novel. Examples of classic romance include Atonement, Birdsong, Pride and Prejudice, and Corelli’s Mandolin. Sure there is romance in the novels, possibly even some sex. However, the main story is not simply how two people hooked up.
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Bharath Ram on December 25th, 2011 at 6:50 am

if they hav romance in the fiction section then may be they dont have enough space in romance section…….. (lol!) k jus kiddin…….

i think u shud ask them………
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Amy N on December 25th, 2011 at 6:55 am

To be non-fiction, it would need to be completely truthful. Most romance novels are Emagine created, thought up, fantasized, which would make them fix it. Having the ability to write all kinds of fantasized things makes for a great romance novel but it also classifies it as fiction! Some might classify them as fictional romance. I think it would probably depend upon the store but they’re being careful about listing it as fiction or nonfiction.
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Fiction