On gothic romance

More from the midnight in austenland section of my website:

H.P. Lovecraft wrote of "the thrill of the chimney-corner whisper." That's what gothic romance writers explored. The genre flourished in Austen's time with books like The Mysteries of Udolpho and The Monk by Ann Radcliffe. With a middle class suddenly at leisure, there was time for novel-reading, especially for women, and gothic romances were extremely popular. A gothic heroine was young, virginal, naive, tender-hearted, a beautiful singer or piano player (angelic in nature), living in some tragic circumstance (newly and unfairly impoverished, orphaned, etc). In short, completely unrealistic.

Austen loved to play with this ideal. Her heroines like Elizabeth Bennet and Catherine Morland are emphatically not good at music or painting, their families are large and untragic. Catherine is naive and tender-hearted, but the rest of her story clashes with the idea of a gothic heroine in humorous ways. Her anguish comes from missing an outing. Her moments of terror were all in her head.

In college I took a literature course on Romance and Realism, in which we studied gothic romance, among other genres. I was fascinated by this genre, and often thought that if I went on to do a PhD, I'd explore gothic romance in some way for my dissertation. Instead I got an MFA in creative writing, but the gothic romance always intrigued me. midnight in austenland allowed me to explore gothic romance, where it intersects with horror, romance, character drama, and fantasy, and add comedy as well, a mishmash of genre that all seemed to fit together. For a book nerd like me, this kind of storytelling is absolute indulgent fun.

From my research notes, elements of a gothic romance:
Ancestral curse
Secret passages
Crumbling ruins (abbey?)
Fainting ladies
Meeting of fanciful past and strictly realistic present
Threatening mystery
Brooding gothic villain
Gothic romance as examination of the caging of women in certain roles
More is going on than you know, what seems to be isn'€™t
Meeting of two times, modern and ancient
Passion and danger of falling in love with the wrong man
Danger at home--women in danger in the domestic environment (paralleled by fearing what'€™s inside herself)
Inclement weather - fog, rain, lightning, thunder
Eerie atmosphere
SUSPENSE

In the 19th and 20th centuries, gothic romance naturally branched into both the horror and mystery genres as we know them. My story hinged on a somewhat traditional murder mystery plot. Agatha Christie is the queen of the modern mystery, and I read many of her books, although I knew I could neither hope to replicate her style nor did I try. Her mysteries are so complex and subtle, they must be the entire focus of the story. I had other things I wanted to achieve with this story besides the mystery element. For this book, the mystery subplot must support the central story, not the other way around.
Agatha Christie books I read in 2010:
And Then There Were None
Mousetrap
Appointment with Death
Sleeping Murder
Dumb Witness
Witness for the Prosecution
A Murder Is Announced
Crooked House
Three Little Pigs
ABC Murders
The Murder of Lord Edgware

Other books I enjoyed and leaned on during the writing of this book included Austen's books (naturally), especially Northanger Abbey; Rebecca, by Daphne Du Maurier; Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte; and The Haunting of Hill House, by Shirley Jackson.

Comments

[Lousiana Kid]

I love gothic stories but not necessarily romantic style ones. I love Poe the most. I have his complete works! Yay!

[ArtemisMS]

This brings back disturbing memories of studying for my nineteenth century British lit PhD exam *weep*

[Josiphine]

Yay for Rebecca! That book is...amazing. :)

[Elizabeth Cox]

I read The Mysteries of Udolpho. Would you recommend the other works of Anne Radcliffe?

[Dr. Sallie N. Cheinsteen]

How do you have time for it all? Fascinating post! I love it when I can learn new things on a blog, and even find some new books to read, too. Thanks so much!

[Melanie]

I just finished Midnight in Austenland and reading this post is the perfect ending. I really enjoyed it and I think it is a wonderful addition to the genre, in the spirit of Austen. Thank you for giving the world Charlotte. It's nice to have heroines we can relate to, laugh at/with and admire.

[Jo Seable- Schaffer]

I can't wait to read this!

[Laurie]

I totally made a t-shirt in college that said, "Burn the gothic novel!" in retaliation to how much I hated Tess of the D'Urbervilles. My friend Toni loves it to this day, and really hates Jane Eyre (which is the only gothic novel I've ever loved).

Basically, we just agree to disagree on these points.

[Angela]

Jane Eyre is one of my favorite classic novels, and I did thoroughly enjoy Rebecca once I got over the assigned-by-teacher-obligatory-read. It's funny how that can change the light of a book.

[Julie Daines]

This was a fun post to read because I LOVE the old gothic romances. I've read all of Mrs. Radcliff, and Northanger Abbey is one of my favorite Jane Austens.

And I'm a huge Shirley Jackson fan (We Have Always Lived in the Castle!). If you haven't already, you might try some Mary Stewart--Nine Coaches Waiting is a great gothic romance from the 50s.

This makes me so excited to read Midnight in Austenland. I'm ordering it today!

I've also wanted to tell you for a long time that The Book of a Thousand Days is one of my all time favorite YA books. Ever. LOVE IT. It is one of the books that has influenced me the most in my own writing. I've read it countless times and the whole thing is covered in pencil marks. I am not worthy. :)

[Julia]

I remember listening to And Then There Were None on book on CD on a car trip when I was younger. I hadn't planned on listening to it at first, because my parents were listening to it and usually the stuff they listened to had me bored. But, about halfway through the book I got interested in it and absolutely loved it! Good choice of literature, Mrs. Hale!

[Jennifer Kay]

I devoured Midnight in Austenland in one evening. Wow. You captured the post-divorce feelings of a mother beautifully, all the more impressive since I can tell from reading your blog that you are very happily married.

[Sondy]

As you know from my Twitter posts, I finished Midnight in Austenland last night. I am also a Jane Austen aficionado, and I thought your book was just perfect! I agree with Jennifer that you captured the emotions of a mom who's been cheated on so perfectly, I briefly wondered if Dean had been unfaithful (and was happy to cast that doubt aside). In fact, you may have had better perspective on the situation having seen friends in that position instead of being in that position yourself. One of the worst parts is feeling like an IDIOT for not spotting the clues that your husband was cheating.

And of course, that played absolutely perfectly with the shadows of Northanger Abbey. In all of Midnight in Austenland, we weren't sure Charlotte wasn't just being silly, just overly imagining things like Catherine Morland.

And let me just say that you wrote the best heroine escape from deadly peril scene EVER!

I can tell the book was empowering, because I'm finally planning to sit down and insist that my ex keeps his part of the Marital Settlement Agreement. There are some little details he has neglected....

[Amy]

I FINALLY got my copy of MIA in the mail yesterday and I finished it in less than 24 hours. LOVE it!!!!!

[Amber Argyle]

We really enjoy the old b&w Agatha Christie movies. Great family nights with popcorn and kids on my lap making my legs numb. :D

[Z Parks]

Ah! We should be friends! I discovered Agatha Christie when I was in middle school and I just can't get enough of her! I think my favorite is still And Then There Were None because I love the intensity of that final scene when the heroine is tied up on the floor and the hero (who she wasn't sure she could trust) comes bursting in and saves the day---ah! Brilliant. I'm looking forward to reading your very own gothic murder mystery :)

[Jane]

I bought Midnight in Austenland yesterday. Already finished. I love it! Thank you!

[Anna]

It was so fun attending the book release party last Saturday. My daughter was star struck! I got the chance to start and finish MIA that evening -- perfect cap to a great mother-daughter excursion. This post was so fun to read having finished the book now. Thanks for sharing your humor and ideas. Can't wait to read what comes next from your pen!

[kaye]

gothic romance was my genre of choice back in my highschool days. I read all of those books you listed at the end of your post. I'm 3/4 of the way through Midnight in Austenland--and I love it.

[Ash]

The Monk was actually written by Matthew Lewis, not Ann Radcliffe.