All the Ms: Picking Up on Historical Themes

One of the fascinating aspects of reading all the Ms (perusing the first chapter or 10 pages of all adult fiction books by authors whose last names begin with M) is that I am getting a snapshot of fiction over time. 

That is, I begin to encounter certain tropes or themes within time periods. 

For instance, in the mid-twentieth-century, spy novels, including spy novels with couples, became very popular. 

I can also, somewhat unexpectedly, pinpoint a time in the early twentieth century when writing romances--fiction about couples falling in and out of love--was tackled by male as well as female writers in general fiction. That is, what constitutes the marriage was on the table. 

Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte tackled the subject more than adequately in the nineteenth century. However, the twentieth century sees books such as Dodsworth by Sinclair Lewis. Even if one blathers on about realism, it is essentially a romance novel. When Katherine Mansfield wrote story after story about marriages in the 1910s, she wasn't shunted off into the "romance "genre. She was seen as edgy and modern.

I suspect the reason the subject suddenly became "modern" fodder was that divorce was more easily obtained (and people obtained it). A number of screwball comedies at the time also tackled marriages with third-party hangers-on; marriages with divorces; marriages with chatty, bantering couples (see The Thin Man series). 

Consequently, I can fairly confidently affirm in the early 1900s, the definition and purpose of marriage was perceived as a modern topic--before it got handed back to romance novelists. It has thrived with romance novelists! But the temporary claims of modern authors prove...

So-called great authors are as much a slave to trends as anyone else.