Happily Ever After: The Allure of Romance Novels

The genre’s guaranteed H.E.A. — happily ever after — is a plus.

Credit…Natalie Keyssar for The New York Times

To the Editor:

Re “Romance Finds Its Own Time and Place in New Bookstores” (front page, July 7):

About a year ago, a large bookstore opened on the Upper East Side of Manhattan to long lines and eager customers. I fought my way to the very back of the store where the romance section — only a few bookcases — was secreted.

The placement of this section felt like a judgment on the worth of this literature. As a romance writer and reader, I was incensed and complained to the manager. He shrugged his shoulders. Who cares about romance?, he seemed to be saying.

Thank you, Alexandra Alter, for bringing romance literature into the light! The good news that romance-only bookstores are proliferating is a boon to the soul. Romance is the only genre where a reader can rely on a happy ending.

In a world filled to overflowing with dystopian movies, novels, video games and even dark nonfiction, romances supply a much-needed safety valve for women, men and young adults.

Romance bookstores like The Ripped Bodice in Brooklyn offer much more than a place to buy books. They offer community to women and men looking for peace in a difficult world.

Nola Saint James
New York
The writer is the author of “Anarchy at Almacks: A Story of Love at First Sight,” a Regency romance.