Sales of romance novels are rising in Britain
Tiktokers are falling in love with the genre
Passion is being partitioned. Online, and particularly on TikTok, romantic fiction is being carved into categories by its fans. Where once people merely read a category called “books” now they read categories called #friendstolovers, #enemiestolovers and #academicrivalstolovers. There is #spicytok and there is #smuttok; there is #forbiddenlove and there is the slightly creepy #forcedproximity. Feminism is not this movement’s strong suit. There is a category called #billionaireromance; there is no category named #earningsparity.
This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “#Lovestory ”
From the March 11th 2023 edition
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