Romance author Emily Henry: Rom-com ‘helps you believe in life again’
Emily Henry and the cover of her book, "Happy Place"
Portrait by Devyn Glista/Penguin Random House
If you read an Emily Henry novel while seated in an armchair, you may imagine that you’re actually in a beach chair. The author’s most recent stories are about finding romance in vacation settings.
The title of Ms. Henry’s new novel, “Happy Place,” refers to a holiday cottage in Maine. Every year, three couples meet up at the sea-side home. But the protagonist and her former boyfriend haven’t told their friends that they broke up months earlier. The duo decide to pretend that they’re still engaged. The occasionally steamy “Happy Place” exemplifies the character depth and witty dialogue that enriched her previous bestsellers “Beach Read,” “People We Meet on Vacation,” and “Book Lovers.”
The Monitor recently interviewed Ms. Henry via Zoom. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
Why We Wrote This
Romance novels are often denigrated, usually by those who don’t read them. But author Emily Henry sees a genre based on hope and healing.
You first started reading romance novels a few years ago when you felt acutely aware of darkness in the world. Can you tell me about how the often-denigrated rom-com genre offered a respite?
The thing that I love about the genre so much is that it’s innately built on hopefulness. … When we talk about the genre, we talk about the idea of a happily ever after, or a happy for now. … You don’t need a guarantee of everything being smooth sailing from here on out. You just need this one moment where you really appreciate where you are and you have joy and have some semblance of contentment. I think that’s a really healing thing to be able to read ….
I think the hope element of it is even possibly more important than the comfort. It’s not just a Band-Aid. It’s something that kind of helps you believe in life again. Like, believe in life and its value and its beauty.
What did you want “Happy Place” to convey about what constitutes true happiness?
Maine is this cast of characters’ happy place. But Harriet, the narrating character, also has all of these other happy places that are just the moments that she goes back to [reminisce about] to ground herself. … That has been a way of thinking that has persisted for generations, that you’re working for the weekend, just putting in your time until you can get to what feels like it should be your real life. There’s a line where she talks about how she feels like she’s living in this marathon. The finish line is when she’ll finally be happy. That’s such an easy trap to fall into where everything you’re doing is for this imagined future version of yourself, and you’re not making any time and space in the present to already have joy.
How did you look at this book as a way to explore issues of self-worth?
Even in our closest friendships and our most intimate relationships, there still is that fear that if people could really see all the way down to the core of you, you would be unlovable. … But again, I’m writing romance. The whole genre is built on hope. It’s built on the idea that it’s worth exposing yourself to that raw level, with the hope that you could have this connection with a person that you can’t have if they never really see you. And the main character for “Happy Place,” specifically Harriet, her big thing that she’s working on is being a people pleaser. I feel like that’s been a huge revelation for me over the last couple of years - how much of my life is guided by trying to make sure everybody’s happy with me. It’s like I’m writing that consciously, knowing I’m working through something for myself.
What are some of your literary and onscreen influences for writing witty banter?
It’s a sensibility that’s born much more from watching a lot of TV and movies. And I always come back to the feeling that I was raised by Nora Ephron (“You’ve Got Mail”) and Amy Sherman-Palladino (“Gilmore Girls”). There are novelists I look to whenever I’m not feeling particularly funny and I just need to be reminded what a funny writer is. I constantly go back to Mhairi McFarlane. And then the co-writing duo Christina Lauren.
Tell me about the research for your novels. I imagine it involves a lot of traveling to vacation locations?
I am really a homebody and I love just being home writing. But I also do think it’s a pretty nice racket I’ve got going here where I can just set a book somewhere and go spend some time there and then, like, write it all off!