Tired of Watching the World Fall Apart? Try Reading Romance Novels
Seriously—I’m not kidding
Right now life in America is a hellscape for the majority of citizens. Between the booming cost of living, nonstop gun violence, and a political divide that feels like it’s building up to a dangerous climax, most of us are looking for a means to escape this reality—even if only for a few hours. We turn to a myriad of things to provide us that escape: Alcohol, drugs, work, television, exercise, sex, social media, shopping, even trending news items (remember the memes and online frenzy around #OceanGate?)
In years past, I’ve vacillated between a number of the vices above to tap out when the world just feels like too much. Then last year, I discovered an entirely new form of escapism: The Romance Novel.
For most of my life, I’ve skipped by the Romance section of the bookstore, rolling my eyes at the aisles full of “pulsing members” and “heaving bosoms.” When I thought of romance novels, I remembered the dog-eared paperbacks my grandma kept around her house. The covers featured Fabio holding slim white women with sexy wind-blown hair on beaches, boats, and near towering castles. As a liberal Black lesbian, nothing about those books really called to me: The sex didn’t resemble my own, the knight in shining armor trope was so worn out, and none…
