As I was saying last week, one way readers (and writers) can find hope in a book’s hopeless setting is by recognizing the need for the characters to discover something greater, something beyond themselves. That way, no matter what happens to the characters themselves, the reader is left with a bigger picture, a bigger hope with which to come away satisfied. Think of the end of Dr. Zhivago; even though the lovers are never reunited, their child realizes the legacy and the love between Yuri and Lara lives on in his poems—poems that idealize not only their love but the Russia Yuri loved.
Or Camelot–there again, the love story doesn’t end happily, but the audience is left with the hope of the world remembering how great Camelot once was.
There is another way to bring hope to a seemingly hopeless setting, and that’s through a happily-ever-after romance. It’s what I chose to do in both My Sister Dilly and The Oak Leaves, and what I’ll no doubt do again in Springtime of the Spirit, the book I’ll be starting next. A romance can lift the darkest story lines, letting the reader latch on to that even when everything else seems hopeless.
If a character has a goal, even a noble one, but circumstances or others (i.e. a villain) prevent them from achieving their goal, it could leave the reader feeling depressed, disillusioned, disappointed they invested their time on something that didn’t finish well. Of course, some books and movies are exactly meant to leave the reader that way, to teach a lesson, make a point, create a lasting impact. Some readers love that sort of book (my daughter, for example!).
I don’t. I admit to being a romantic by nature, longing for escapist reading that leaves me refreshed, hopeful, happy. So that’s the kind of book I write because, after all, we should want to write what we like to read.
However that doesn’t mean I won’t put my characters through the wringer. It doesn’t mean I’ll give them all of their goals, desires and longings, either. But it probably does mean I’ll let them win in love. Aw, p’shaw…what can I say? I’ve already admitted I’m a romantic by nature.
So. In The Oak Leaves my contemporary heroine wanted her baby to be a healthy, normal, happy little boy with a bright future. Since I knew going into that story this was not the case, that he would indeed receive a life-altering diagnosis, I had to balance the heartache with a romance. That was where the entire historical thread came from, far enough from the reality of the contemporary story to give that feeling of escapism. And it was there I sought to balance the hopelessness of a serious diagnosis with the search—and discovery—of the happily-ever-after romance.
That’s my second thought about finding hope in a hopeless setting. Any story can survive almost any disaster if, at the core, there is a romance with a happy ending. Such a story can still satisfy a wide range of taste in readers—well, except for those who love a tragedy…
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