Regency novel
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Regency novels are either:
- Fiction actually written during the Regency era - The works of Jane Austen, Sir Walter Scott, Susan Ferrier, and Maria Edgeworth would fall into this category.
- Later fiction set within the Regency era. - These include romance novels (called "Regency romances"), detective fiction, and military fiction.
In both cases the setting is typically Regency England, although the settings can sometimes be extended to the European continent or to the various British colonies of the same time period. Traits often found in both types include a highly developed sense of social standing between the characters; emphasis on 'manners' and class issues; and the emergence of modern social thought amongst the upper classes of England.
The Regency period in the United Kingdom is the period between 1811 and 1820, when King George III was deemed unfit to rule and his son, later George IV, was instated to be his proxy as Prince Regent. It was a decade of particular manners and fashions, and overlaps with the Napoleonic Period in Europe.
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[edit] Modern Regency fiction
Fiction set in the Regency period grew in popularity during the late 20th century, leading to an increased number of novels in all of the categories. In addition, there has also been some Regency-set science fiction and fantasy, such as Naomi Novik's Temeraire books and some of Patricia Wrede's novels.
[edit] Mysteries
Well-known authors include: Kate Ross, Ashley Gardner, Carrie Bebris, Rosemary Stevens, and Stephanie Barron.
[edit] Military fiction
Well-known authors include Patrick O'Brian, Bernard Cornwell, and C.S. Forester. More recently, Novik (see above) refights the Napoleonic Wars with dragons for air support.
[edit] Romances
Well-known authors include: Georgette Heyer, Barbara Metzger, Joan Smith, Marion Chesney, Mary Balogh, Jo Beverley, Nancy Butler, Lisa Kleypas, Stephanie Laurens, Sorcha MacMurrough, Amanda McCabe and Julia Quinn.
Many readers and writers of Regency Romance make a distinction between "Traditional Regency Romance" (also known as "Regency Romance," "Traditional Regency," and "Trad") and "Regency Historical".
The Regency-set books published by the Fawcett Coventry line are all Trads, and the Regency-set books written by authors such as Amanda Quick and Christina Dodd are Historicals. Signet Regency romances were also popular for many years, and can still be found online second-hand.
Jove Regency romance novels, and the HerStory Books Rakehell Regency Romance series would be described as Regency historicals.
The distinction rests on the genre definition of regency romance: Works in the tradition of Georgette Heyer, with an emphasis on the primary romance plot, would be traditional.
Regency romances which may include more social realism, or, conversely, anachronistically modern characterization, might be classed by some as "Regency historical", signifying that their general setting is in Regency England, but the plot, characterization, or prose style of the work extends beyond the genre formula of the Regency romances published by Heyer, Fawcett, etc.
Many authors have written both Traditionals and Historicals, including Barbara Metzger, Jo Beverley, Mary Balogh, Edith Layton, Mary Jo Putney, Susan Carroll, and Loretta Chase.
The sensual Regency historical romance has been made popular in recent years by Mary Balogh, Jo Beverley, Lisa Kleypas, Stephanie Laurens, Sorcha MacMurrough, Julia Quinn. These novels are much more explicit than the traditional Regency, and include many more love scenes. These love scenes also tend to be more racy.
In addition, these novels tend to be published in a series, with groups of friends of either gender the focus of interest as they get married off one by one.
The Regency period, overlapping as it does with the Napoleonic War period in Europe, offers the opportunity for high drama, with wounded heroes, mystery and adventure, and thus would help to explain the popularity of Regency romance novels in particular.
