Women's Fiction and Multiple MCs

LJD · May 1, 2012

It seems like every women's fiction book I've read a blurb for lately has multiple MCs (usually three). Friends, sisters, women living in the same building or town. For example:

The Truth about You, Melissa Hill
Homecoming, Cathy Kelly
(maybe everything by Cathy Kelly?)
The Life You've Imagined, Kristina Riggle
Then Came You, Jennifer Weiner
Little Earthquakes, Jennifer Weiner
One Moment, One Morning, Sarah Rayner
The Brightest Star in the Sky, Marian Keyes
The Fat Chance Guide to Dieting, Claudia Pattison
Barefoot, Elin Hilderbrand
There's Cake in my Future, Kim Gruenfelder
These Girls, Sarah Pekkanen

It's not that I dislike it, but I have to say I'm a little tired of nearly every women's fiction book I hear about being like this.

Anyone else notice this? Do you like this structure? Why do you think it's so popular in women's fiction?

Bubastes · May 1, 2012

I've noticed it too. I'm generally okay with it, but I agree, I don't like seeing it in SO many women's fiction books.

:waits intently for answers:

Evangeline · May 3, 2012

I think the structure is great to contrast how the premise and/or plot effects multiple characters. Plus, since so many readers love series' with connected characters, the multiple-strand story structure gives the book that series feel without needing separate books for each protagonist.

I'm actually using it in my WIP because it allows me to give multiple perspectives of the same plot (esp since one character is a housemaid and the other is a duchess), but I can see how it can become wearisome when it seems every WF title uses this storytelling device.

JMC2009 · May 3, 2012

I'm not sure I understand what you mean by multiple main characters... Well, I know what you mean, but I'm not sure I understand your objection to it.

Most books that I've read have multiple main characters. In Romance, there's at least two - the female and the mail. In mystery there's the "detective" (using a generic), the villain, and any assistant.

And I think it's reasonable to expect them to occupy the same geography. I live in Kansas, and I love my friends in Missouri dearly, but if someone were writing a story about this point in my life, the other main characters would be those most influencing my life at this moment.

Or maybe my definition of main character is flawed?

If you're talking about point of view, I agree with Evangeline that it helps see the same problem in different light.

I've been working on a mystery series lately, so I'm trying to rack my brain trying to think of the latest Women's Lit books that I've read/listened to. The one that comes to my mind is Ladder of Years by Anne Tyler. She sticks the the POV of just one of her main characters, to a point where I almost found it maddening. In this novel, a woman decides to leave her family and start a new life, and the author shows what this new life may look like for a woman who lives in the same house she grew up in and has never been on her own (went from living with father to living with husband). I say this was maddening because I really wanted to know what was going on with her family. What did they think, how were they getting along?

This example is dated, having been published in 1997, but then again, most books I tend to read are dated.

HeidiKreider · May 3, 2012

Though my novel has two MCs I think I understand LJD's point of view. Any more than 3 and my brain begins to spin!

I also think that often novels, especially women's books, go in trends. For example, the foodie trend a decade ago. Perhaps this is just trendy and soon we will return to one protagonist.

LJD · May 3, 2012

What I mean is books with multiple protagonists with their own storylines that are only loosely connected. Not just multiple POVs to show how different people might see the same event. The blurbs often read something like the following:

Little Earthquakes (copied from amazon):
Becky is a plump, sexy chef who has a wonderfull husband and baby girl, a restaurant that received a citywide acclaim -- and the mother-in-law from hell. Kelly is an event planner who's struggling to balance her work and motherhood while dealing with unemployed husband who seems content to channel-surf for eight hours a day. Ayinde's basketball superstar husband breaks her trust at her most vulnerable moment, putting their new family even more in the public eye. Then, there's Lia, a Philadelphia native who has left her Hollywood career behind, along with her husband, and a tragic secret to start her life all over again.

and Homecoming:

They say you can’t go home again, and truth be told, Eleanor Levine never planned to. Yet here she is, back in Ireland after a lifetime in New York, moving her treasured possessions—including her mother’s handwritten book of recipes for living—into a cozy Dublin apartment. With its picturesque Georgian villas, redbrick houses, and central garden, the Golden Square is just large enough for anonymity. At least, that’s what actress Megan Bouchier hopes, when a tabloid scandal sends her fleeing the paparazzi, back to the place she felt safest as a child.
Rae, manager of the local café, has noticed the lovely, sad-eyed girl. There’s little Rae doesn’t notice, and every customer feels nourished by her food and her kindness, yet Rae’s own secret remains hidden. Connie O’Callaghan—with her fortieth birthday looming—has a secure teaching job, an abundance of blessings . . . and a deep-seated loneliness only her new neighbor Eleanor understands. And as the lives of the four women intertwine, each in her own way is learning about love, letting go—and that finding your way can lead to the last place you expected.

The characters might be friends or family, but their problems aren't closely related.

Evangeline · May 3, 2012

LJD said:
What I mean is books with multiple protagonists with their own storylines that are only loosely connected. Not just multiple POVs to show how different people might see the same event.
...
The characters might be friends or family, but their problems aren't closely related.

Oh I see. From your list, I've only read Marian Keyes, but her three-MC WF usually intersect in some fashion, even if their individual stories do not share the same plot/premise. The last one I read was Sushi for Beginners, and two of the women worked at the same magazine, the third woman was BFF to one of the other women, and the male character was the boss at the magazine, and everyone's actions impacted one another.

brainstorm77 · May 4, 2012

LJD said:
Why do you think it's so popular in women's fiction?

Simple answer: Because it sells.

It doesn't bother me. When buying a book, I read the blurb on the back cover and make my choice from that or a rec from a friend. If it's well written and the story engaging it's all good

LAgrunion · May 9, 2012

When I read Courtney Sullivan's Maine, I remember feeling distracted as I tried to follow the separate (but connected) stories of the three MCs.

Vanessa Diffenbaugh's Language of Flowers focused on one MC from her POV, if my memory is correct. I found it to be a much easier, cleaner read. It felt more cohesive to me as I was able to just concentrate on her evolution. I quite liked that book.

For me, having just one story told from one POV is more satisfying as a narrative structure. My head can't handle head-hopping and I find that it takes too much effort to keep track of different parallel stories or different POVs.

Women's Fiction and Multiple MCs

LJD

Bubastes

bananaed

Evangeline

Twirling in a glass of champagne

JMC2009

Your friendly neighborhood Chat Op

HeidiKreider

Heidi...

LJD

Evangeline

Twirling in a glass of champagne

brainstorm77

practical experience, FTW

LAgrunion

not to be taken seriously