From folk tales through modern novels, dogs appear as catalysts, character signifiers and cupids. While behaving in customary canine fashion, they set events in motion, often through the creation of chaos, thereby advancing plot, enriching characterization, adding depth to story development and in many instances providing comic relief as well emotional pathos. Such canine companion tropes are not confined to heroic narratives but may also be found in genre literature in general and in romance novels in particular.
This presentation will examine a range of romance novels written in the last 80 years in which dogs assume this role. Particular attention will be given to the historical romances Frederica by Georgette Heyer and To Beguile a Beast by Elizabeth Hoyt, both set in the eighteenth century, and the contemporary romance Anyone But You by Jennifer Crusie, set in the late twentieth century. Within the context of these three very different settings it will examine the portrayal of the dogs as dogs, the relationship of the dogs to owners/rescuers and family members, and their potential romantic partners, and the commonalities and differences in how these canine-human relationships embrace and expand upon various plot devices employed in the romance genre.
About the presenterNola Thacker
Nola Thacker, programming librarian at Westhampton Free Library in New York, has been a panelist (and cosplayer) at NYCC, presented at Flame Con and NYLA and is a co-founder of the Long Island Library Pride Association. She has written books for middle grade and young adult readers under her name as well the pseudonyms Tom B. Stone and D.E. Athkins, and as a ghostwriter for the Babysitters Club.