A Romance Without A Happy Ending? No Way, Jose.

I belong to a few — well, okay, quite a few — well, okay, too damned many romance discussion groups, bulletin boards and the like. And on no less than three of them in the last two days the subject of romance novels without a happy ending cropped up.

Blink. Blink.

Excuse me?

I mean, aren’t we screwing with a fundamental parameter of the romance genre here? The happy ever after ending is a absolute given. In the 1960s a romance novel wasn’t complete unless the hero asked the heroine to marry him. These days, it’s not complete unless it’s clear the hero has committed to her in some way, even if it’s symbolic, rather than getting down on his knees and producing a ring. But that happy ever after is as clear as daylight by the time you close the book and sigh. The end. Fini No room for argument.

Especially given the global crises and the reach for escapist literature right now, I’d have thought the need for a reassuring positive ending would be more of a lock than ever.

Apparently not.

Some readers are floating the idea that some romances might work well if the ending isn’t all that positive, after all. Like, say, the movie/book, Message in a Bottle.

Personally, I couldn’t stand Message in a Bottle. Oh, I loved the story premise, and I even own a copy of the movie. And I’ve watched it. Once. I can’t bear to watch it again, knowing it’s a shitty ending. I mean, what’s the point? They don’t get together. And to this day, I can’t figure out why the author wrote the story that way. What is the point of dashing the readers’ hopes that way? It doesn’t serve the story, or the characters in any way at all. It doesn’t help the characters grow in any way. It just makes the story sad, depressing and weepy. And makes me not want to watch the movie.

Part of the “why not have some romances not end well” movement is the idea that readers are so used to the HEA ending that they’ve lost all sense of suspense and just race for the end, knowing it’ll all turn out well in the end. But I think that’s bullshit. Romance authors have been turning out well craft novels for decades, with a guaranteed HEA ending, and plenty of suspense and surprise packed into the middle, enough to keep readers glued to the pages, and keep them guessing about what’s going to happen next. Yes, we all know it’s going to turn out well, but how the hero is going to get there is all part of the fun.

Given my bitter disappointment over Message in a Bottle, I don’t think I would ever voluntarily read a novel that didn’t have a happy ending.

What about you? What do you think of non-HEA endings?

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