– Even though the books can be about heavy things, there is always a nice ending, says 17-year-old Malin Bøe Ingebrigtsen. Her friend Patrick Gerard Bermudo Magnaye agrees. They stand by the romance books at the bookshop and look. – It’s a good distraction to be swallowed up in a world where they figure out their problems. It gives hope in everyday life, he says. Romantic books have become very popular, both at home and abroad. Malin Bøe Ingebrigtsen and Patrick Gerard Bermudo Magnaye at the bookshop. They both read romance books. Photo: PRIVATE – Now I’m reading a book called Better Than The Movies. And it’s an easy-to-read, romantic book, says 17-year-old Astrid Stigen Drangsholt. She is in the third year of high school and often has busy school days. – I feel that I generally get a lot of impressions from the internet, school and social media. When I read a book that is both easy to read and predictable, and the focus is on love, it becomes easier to think about something other than schoolwork. Several of Colleen Hoover’s books are on the top lists. Here from the bookshelves at Ark. Photo: Christine Rehn Jensen / news More modern stories You may have heard this story before. Girl meets boy. They get married and the girl gets a happy ending. Classic romantic book. But those stories have now changed, believes Astrid’s mother, Janne Stigen Drangsholt. She is a literary scholar and teaches English literature. – Romantic books have long been a standardized narrative. But since the romantic relationship has been changed by the lgbtq revolution, the narratives have become more flexible, says Drangsholt and continues: MODERNIZED NARRATIVE: Literary scholar Janne Stigen Drangsholt believes that romantic books have been modernized. Photo: Tommy Ellingsen – You are not forced into a forced narrative. You get to choose who you want to be and be with. It opens more the potential for something, rather than closing it. The literary scholar believes the new popularity may be because the stories have become more modern, but also because many young people are lonely today. – Now we have had many years of isolation, and you can see that there is a lot of loneliness among young people. It is difficult to meet people and get to know them. I think that for many people the books represent a community and that it is possible to make lasting friendships, says Drangsholt. Photo: Aurora Henni Krogh / news A new spring for romance It has become too popular. And it is especially younger girls who come into the bookshop and buy the romantic books. – We have seen almost a doubling of sales in the past year, says Caroline Heitmann, who is marketing manager at Norli. According to Heitmann, Colleen Hoover is the best-selling author of last year. – If you disregard children’s books, she was the best-selling author last year. It Ends With Us is the most popular. Authors such as Emily Henry, Ana Huang and several others also sell a lot. – Can you say that it is a new spring for romantic books? – It is clearly a new spring, I would say we have come a long way into summer. Good help from TikTok Many people get their book tips from the platform TikTok. Here, users post tips for books that others can read. There is a separate subject tag under #booktok. It has become a bit cool to read, says 17-year-old Astrid Drangsholt. The book It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover one of the books that is very popular on TikTok. Photo: Screenshots from TikTok – There used to be a lot of stigma around reading, it was kind of silly. But now it’s more like this: if Bella Hadid reads, I want to read as well. Hear more about romance in the book industry, but also in TV series and on the theater stage in “Arena”:
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– Gives hope in everyday life – news Culture and entertainment
