If it's not a romance... what is it?

Hi everyone,

I've been browsing some threads to try to see if I can find a classification for the novel I'm working on. It centres around a young woman who falls in love with a married man, and they begin an affair which fundamentally changes her, though the relationship doesn't work out.

The focus of the novel is the relationship and its effects. There is no story if there is no relationship. However, there is not a "HAE" ending. The couple does not end up together. My browsing tells me that if there is no HAE ending, then it is not a romance novel.

My question is, how do I figure out which classification/genre my story falls into? Obviously I need to know this in order to select agents who represent this kind of story. I've come to you romance writers because I envisioned the story as a romance, though as an unhappy one at the end.

I'm happy to hang around and learn more from all of you, as even if this particular story doesn't fall into the romance genre, I still have others floating around in my mind that qualify.

Haha, sadly there are no monsters, pirates, conquerors, elves or orcs. If there were, it'd be an adventure story! I love me some adventure.

Thank you for the comment about women's fiction. The story is set in the present and the journey is more interior than exterior. I read a book recently that featured an affair as the main relationship, with an internal journey being as important as an outward one. It was speculative fiction, though. I'm working on fine-tuning the external journey in my own story (nothing fantastical), but... yeah.

Thanks for your help

Cathy C said:

If this is her journey ONLY, then I'd go with a classification (to agents/editors) of women's fiction or general fiction. It's probably not romance since the man's viewpoint or emotions aren't as present as hers.

Or does the married man have a POV in the text?

Click to expand...

Ahh, interesting.
At present, he does not have a viewpoint, aside from the inclusion of 2-3 letters he writes to her.

However, this project will take a lot of revision to get it just right, so things may change in later drafts. At present, since the woman (Melanie) is the main character and the story is about her inner journey, I don't feel that a male POV would be appropriate.