South Asian Literature discussion

I was totally skeptical of romance novels before I read Busted in Bollywood by Nicola Marsh. Even the term "romance novel" makes me think of cheap paperbacks in the magazine aisle, but I was pleasantly surprised and entertained by this one.

What do you guys think about romance novels? And (second question), are romance novels the Bollywood of literature?

I was totally with you: I'd see romance novels and think cheap beachy reads, just totally vapid books with nothing going on between the covers except a whole lot of thrusting. And I wasn't interested. I wanted something 'deeper.'

But then a friend of mine started badgering me to check out Julia Quinn's romance novels. This friend has excellent taste, and loves the more academic, critically acclaimed postmodern fiction I was gung-ho into at the time (I still love that stuff - it's just that I'm more into nonfiction right now), so I trusted her and decided to check it out. I read two JQ romance novels and thought they were actually pretty good .... and then I found "Romancing Mister Bridgerton."

I think it had a lot to do with who I am as a person (or how I describe/identify myself) and the time in my life during which I read it, but I LOVED that book. It's not only my favorite romance novel, it's one of my favorite books of all times. And the theme is actually quite simple: be yourself. It sounds so cliche, but the author works it really really well. (It's an 18th century Regency romance, so a lot of the cultural rules and social norms are actually quite similar to more traditional/conservative Desi culture, which was another reason that I liked it because some of it was actually relateable, as weird as that sounds.)

I just adore that book beyond reason. It is my comfort book. I read it when I'm sick. I read it when I'm sad. I read it when I'm angry. I read it when I'm happy. I just pick it up and open it up to a random page and read from there, and read for as little as 2 minutes, or for as long as it takes me to finish the thing. It's perfect. If anyone were to ask me to recommend a romance novel, that would be the first one, no question about it. (Although if you read the others before it in the series, namely The Duke and I, and The Viscount Who Loved Me, you'll be a bit more familiar with teh characters and I think you'll like it more, even though you don't need to read those to know what's going on in the book by any means.)

As for your second question, I have NEVER read or even heard of any South Asian romance novels. I saw the blurb for the Bollywood one when it was offered as a First Read but I didn't find it interesting (not even interesting enough to enter the contest), but it was pretty good, huh? I might check it out. :)

I have just started to read a south asian romance it's called The Splendor of Silence by Indu Sundaresan and I'm really enjoying it. I have also read two other books by Sundaresan which I've also really liked, both romance/period drama books.

I look at Indu's books more as falling in the Literary/Historical fiction category, and am a great admirer of her work. I guess it depends on what one can call a 'romance' novel. There are many novels with romantic elements, yet they are not strictly 'romance' novels. I agree that I am not a fan of those kind, and I immediately think they must be immature and superficial. I'm sure some are very good, though, they are just not my kind if they can't make a lasting impression on me.

I believe - someone correct me if I'm wrong, please - that to be considered a novel in the romantic genre, the story must end with the lovers ending up together, happily. There are lots of literary fiction books that play with romantic elements, but given the contemplative nature of a lot of literary fiction, it does not tend towards neatly resolved plotlines; it tends to provoke more questions than answers, which doesn't always make for a satisfying love story. I can't think of any S. Asian lit. fic. books that are an exception to this, but that may be because I have not read widely enough. Certainly Jane Austen's romances come to mind. They are an excellent marriage of literary & romantic elements with a classic girl-gets-guy ending.

Yes, Shaheen, to be considered a romance the hero and heroine must end up with their happily ever after.

This is how romance differs from women's fiction or chicklit, where a HEA is not always guaranteed.

It's why I love writing and reading romance. I'm a sucker for a well crafted HEA. :)

I have NEVER read or even heard of any South Asian romance novels...

Huma, this is exactly why we started Indireads - we thought it was a shame that we didn't have quick-read romance novels from South Asia; the kind of stuff that people start off with and eventually graduate to literary works. So, Naheed Hassan and I launched Indireads in June 2013, with 30 novels from authors from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

We have a lot of interest from potential writers, since there are so few publishing firms in these countries. And a lot of them want to write other genres, like paranormal and crime, so we'll be expanding our offerings pretty soon.

I'd love it if you would check them out (http://www.indireads.com).

Romancing Mr Bridgerton is one of my favorites too :) And do check out 'What happens in London' by the same author. Julia is one author who can stretch a one line plot (that could be written in a matchbox) into a long interesting novel.

I just finished Invisible Lives by Anjali Banerjee, which is a light, frothy romance in which the heroine, Lakshmi Sen, ends up with the man, Nick. It has some paranormal elements (Lakshmi's gift of "knowing" just which sari will help a woman along her path in life), but it's a sweet romantic tale.

I picked this book up when I was in India without realizing it was a romance. I don't normally read romantic fiction, but I enjoyed this as a diversion from my other reading.