Problematic Romances: For Such a Time

amergina · Aug 4, 2015

Since RWA nationals, there's been a great deal of talk about one of the books that was nominated for best inspirational and best debut. It didn't win either category.

The book is For Such a Time by Kate Breslin, published by Bethany House.

It garnered a Top Pick from RT Book reviews and a Stared review from Library Journal.

It is, at it's heart, a love story set in WWII Germany between a Jewish woman and a concentration camp commander that has been cast as a retelling of The Book of Esther.

(And the camp depicted is not fictional. The camp used is Theresienstadt.)

It's a Christian inspirational, with all that entails: Yes. Jesus. More specifically, a mysteriously appearing Bible.

Now, it's apparently beautifully written and very moving. I haven't read it because inspirationals are not my thing. And I really really really loathe the whole underlying "convert the Jews" vibe. Because, yeah. That was forced on them a lot. Throughout history. Including during WW II. So, not the audience.

But it's kind of amazing that the first people to stand up and go "Uh... about this? It's a problem." was Smart Bitches Trashy Books during their reading of the RITA nominations. Their review is here.

Some quotes:

Let me be clear that despite the low grade, quite a lot of the book is very good. Breslin is a wonderful prose writer: While some of the themes and things her characters did made me side-eye (or, you know, go into a livid meltdown), her prose never did. Her descriptions are both beautiful and horrible (which seems appropriate given the subject matter), and she has a particular gift for conveying the painful, imploding sense of frustration that Hadassah feels watching her people be tortured and killed, and knowing that there is nothing she can do that won’t reveal her true identity and get her killed.

Despite all those good things, this book simply did not work for me. And the reason is its central romance — or, more specifically, its romantic hero, Aric. Full disclosure: I knew going into this book that almost nothing would make me get on board with the head of a concentration camp as the hero.

Perhaps this was a failure of compassion on my part, but I simply am not able to get past the number of war crimes, human rights abuses, and general atrocities Aric commits both before and during the story. I’m glad that by the end of the story he finally does some truly good and courageous things, but that doesn’t mean I think he’s relationship-ready. (He’s super not.)

So here's the question...

If a book is beautifully written, if it's well researched, but if the central idea is problematic for the genre: a high-ranking SS officer willfully complicit in genocide as the hero... and a Jewish woman who converts...

Do you review it as it stands, for what it is outside the greater issues, or stop and say "You know, this isn't okay."

Or is it okay?

My own thought is that it isn't okay. I don't think the world needs a romance hero who would have been executed for crimes against humanity. Of the four actual, historical commanders of the camp, three were executed. One was arrested and escaped and lived under a false name until he died. I certainly don't think the world needs a Christian inspirational romance set in WW II where the Jew "saves" the SS officer. And herself. With the sacrifice of Christ. I don't think Christians should be mapping the sacrifice of Christ onto the Jewish suffering during the Holocaust at all.

Not to say that it shouldn't have been published. But to heap it with praise? And not mention the problematic aspects at all? Not even see the problematic aspects?

Some really good fiction is problematic. I understand that, but...when do we raise our hands and say "there's issues here"? Or are there issues? Am I (and others) being overly sensitive?

Thoughts?

Viridian · Aug 4, 2015

I've got a couple questions.

What should readers do about problematic books? Like: let's say a reader loves a problematic book. Should they... try not to like it? Refuse to read it in the first place?

What about writers? Should we strip our work of anything offensive?

Marian Perera · Aug 4, 2015

I could get behind a romance where the hero is someone like Karl Plagge, who was a German officer but who used his authority to save Jews.

I never, never want to read a romance where the hero is in charge of a concentration camp. It doesn't matter if, in the end, he realizes that gassing hundreds of thousands of people is wrong. If anyone died under his watch, he's responsible.

That said, the praise doesn't surprise me at all. I've read, or read of, romances where the heroes arranged for the heroines to be murdered or gang-raped, or where the heroes choked or attempted to drown the heroines. I believe there's even one where the lonely hero kidnaps several women, keeps them prisoner and rapes each of them in turn to see which of them is his ideal mate, like a horrifying, pornographic version of Goldilocks in the three bears' house. Basically, for some (maybe even many) readers, the hero can get away with anything as long he fixates on the heroine and she redeems him in the end.

amergina · Aug 4, 2015

Viridian said:
I've got a couple questions.

What should readers do about problematic books? Like: let's say a reader loves a problematic book. Should they... try not to like it? Refuse to read it in the first place?

I don't know. Different for every person, I suspect. There is a Your Kink Is Not My Kink thing, but there are some kinks (those that involve using children for sexual gratification by adults for instance) that I'm not okay with and really don't think should be published. (Even if the children are just words on a page and not real.) But does that mean I'll say we should ban them? I don't know.

OTOH, those aren't generally published by reasonably-sized publishing houses and they also generally don't get high praise in industry magazines or nominated for awards.

Viridian said:
What about writers? Should we strip our work of anything offensive?

Again, I don't know. There are things I won't write about, that are hard limits for me. I wouldn't try to glorify a KKK murderer as a hero, for instance.

I think the issue for me that, by and large, there's no perception that it *is* problematic. There's more of an understanding that the possessive relationship depicted in 50 Shades is problematic.

And I also do understand that there are, in fact, Christians who think that absolutely the Jews should be converted to Christianity and they're okay with and in fact, want that.

Deb Kinnard · Aug 4, 2015

I wanted to comment on this, being a writer of inspirational romances and a Christian, but not qualified because I haven't read the book.

In a general sense, however -- the Christian fic story is set in an agreed-upon mindset: that salvation through Christ Jesus is the basic need of every individual. I'm not asking you to agree with this mindset; merely to acknowledge that it exists. (I feel it's tantamount to spiritual violence on another soul, to try to convince someone of the truth of my faith if s/he has not asked for such convincing.) That said, these beliefs do and must inform what we write, if we're to sell it as C-fic. The publishers want it that way.

Viridian · Aug 4, 2015

amergina said:
I don't know. Different for every person, I suspect. There is a Your Kink Is Not My Kink thing, but there are some kinks (those that involve using children for sexual gratification by adults for instance) that I'm not okay with and really don't think should be published. (Even if the children are just words on a page and not real.) But does that mean I'll say we should ban them? I don't know.

OTOH, those aren't generally published by reasonably-sized publishing houses and they also generally don't get high praise in industry magazines or nominated for awards.

Again, I don't know. There are things I won't write about, that are hard limits for me. I wouldn't try to glorify a KKK murderer as a hero, for instance.

I think the issue for me that, by and large, there's no perception that it *is* problematic. There's more of an understanding that the possessive relationship depicted in 50 Shades is problematic.

And I also do understand that there are, in fact, Christians who think that absolutely the Jews should be converted to Christianity and they're okay with and in fact, want that.

Thanks for explaining. It is a super complicated subject.

TBH, I think this book raises a lot of questions that are hard to answer. I've always held two core beliefs:

(1) The purpose of books is to engage the reader emotionally.

(2) Any premise can work if the writer is good enough.

But the fact the hero is a mass murderer is a hard limit for me, not gonna lie. Ultimately: I don't want to police what other readers enjoy, but it strikes me as weird so many people enjoyed that book.

chompers · Aug 4, 2015

I haven't read this book or the reviews. What are they praising? The writing or the Christian aspect of it? Or something else?

For me, I don't like books where a man does some kind of atrocity (e.g. rape), but because he ends up with the heroine, it's all good. People tend to turn a blind eye to the ugliness as long as the couple they want to end up together ends up together. Having said that, it sounds like that's not the case here. It sounds like it's not so much about the woman redeeming him, but Christ redeeming him, and so it's about forgiveness, not that he ends up with the heroine so let's all go running off into the sunset and skipping along in fields of sunflowers. So yeah, I can see it being a highly inspirational book in that regard, which would garner praise then.

If I'm misunderstanding things because I haven't read this book, please correct me.

aruna · Aug 4, 2015

Maybe this should not be categorized as Romance, but as General Fiction, or Women's Fiction? Is that the problem -- that it goes against the norms of the genre? (I haven't read the book btw.)

ElaineA · Aug 4, 2015

I haven't read it either, but I have to assume, if it was nominated by RWA, it followed the conventions. Which, if I'm understanding correctly, is part of the issue. The HEA love interest is someone who has committed such atrocities it's impossible for some to empathize with him as a LI. I think the question is why was this overlooked when it came to praising the book and nominating it for RWA awards.

I completely understand Deb's post regarding the themes in Christian romance. I think I'll push that issue to the side for now. I don't write or read in that subgenre so I'm not at all qualified to opine on it.

I am really torn about the unlikable LI, though. Where do we draw the line there? I have an LI many people have had kneejerk reactions to upon reading my query and synopsis. They simply can't get behind a guy like him by description alone. But many of those who have read the manuscript like him plenty. Others, not so much. I guess the question is are we talking about generally unlikable LI's or LI's so far to one end of the spectrum that they simply shouldn't be put out there as appealing/redeemable/whatever. I mean, from everything I've read (short of the actual full books), I'd personally put Christian Gray in the latter category. But millions and millions of people disagree with me.

I also feel that some subjects, or combination of subjects, can freeze people from voicing any negative opinion. In this case, it's a brew of Christianity, Judaism, biblical "retelling" and the Holocaust. Even Smart Bitches was incredibly tip-toey wading into the criticism. It's a minefield all around. Poke one aspect of the story, and another one blows up in your face.

RWA recognizing the story seems a different issue. They could have left it alone with the 10,000 other books it doesn't recognize. I'm not sure what to make of it except maybe they went strictly on...finding it a well-crafted story? Well, I shouldn't guess. I don't know what to make of it.

amergina · Aug 4, 2015

The RITA process is here:
https://www.rwa.org/p/cm/ld/fid=531

It's peer-judged--that is, the entrants are the judging pool (but not in the category they entered). You can opt out of one category in addition, as I recall (so if you'd not read erotic romance, for instance).

RWA sends five copies of the books out to people. They read-em and judge-em and send scores back. The top 4% become the finalists, with no more than 10 finalists per category. RWA sends five more copies of the books out to final judges to choose the winner.

So there's...actually not much the RWA could do/could have done/should do in terms of changing the contest. The author submitted the work for consideration and was one of the 2000. The publisher sent the copies. The novel was judged by five romance writers and deemed to meet the standards of romance and was also judged to be one of the top 4% of the inspirational romance category, and therefore was one of the finalists (there were five finalists which means there were probably about 125 inspirational romances entered).

Carrie Lyn · Aug 5, 2015

I haven't read this book and if I read the book blurb I wouldn't choose to read it, but that's me. Obviously if the book won an award, it was well written which proves the author has a great talent, and I also applaud them for taking on such a risky subject. I've read books where hero's are not perfect, where they make mistakes but this IMO takes it to a different level. If I couldn't or wouldn't forgive something my hero did in my life, I certainly won't when reading about one either.

It is odd to me that it has been heaped with praise and awards, but I didn't read it. Maybe the author really is just that good? Do the problematic aspects really need to be pointed out? We all know that concentration camps were unbelievably wrong already. Typically I dont feel comfortable reading a book or watching movies about it, makes my eyes leak.

Then again, look at how many people attacked 50 shades of Grey once it became a movie (not even the same type of book I know). But all of a sudden, tons of people were talking about how Grey was pretty much beating/controlling her, was sick in the head and it how the book promoted an unhealthy relationship. I didnt hear any of that when the book was selling millions, only when the movie had been in production. Maybe this would be the same type of case? The more praise that gets heaped on it, the more disapproval as well?

slhuang · Aug 5, 2015

I've been watching this unfold on Twitter, and I was going to comment, but this isn't my lane (either romance or being Jewish), so instead I'll signal-boost a really moving piece by K. Locke I read this morning:

Writing about the Holocaust is not something to do lightly.

As a white American, I wouldn’t touch a romance involving an African-American slave because there is no way—none—that I could handle that properly. Because you can research so many things, but you can’t research collective memory and the way that affects you personally. You can’t. I can’t access that certain empathy, that certain feeling, that way of being and feeling in a world that isn’t your own that I would need to in order to tell that story.

Just because you have the idea of a story doesn’t mean that you should, or have the right to, write it.

And if you decide to write about the Holocaust, and you are not Jewish, I recommend going to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Go slowly. Listen. Watch. Read. And when you get to the shoes, stand there until you realize that’s a fraction, maybe a 1/1000th, of the volume, from one camp. Just one camp.

When you write about another group’s tragedy, your goal should be First, do no harm. Kate Breslin, Bethany House publishers, her agent, the readers, the judges, and in allowing this to be nominated, Romance Writers of America, failed that critical first step.

Bold mine. I really recommend reading the whole thing, because the perspective she speaks with cannot be replicated with a snippet, and it made me think about a lot of things.

edited to delete further comments, because I on second thought I really feel I'm more comfortable just signal-boosting on this one

dolores haze · Aug 5, 2015

I'm a very open-minded reader, but using the Holocaust to show how wonderful Christianity is? I'm appalled.

Sheryl Nantus · Aug 5, 2015

Edit: This. So much. Yes. Says it all so much better than I ever could and then some.

http://www.jenrothschild.com/2015/08/an-open-letter-to-bethany-house-and-rwa.html

amergina said:
The RITA process is here:
https://www.rwa.org/p/cm/ld/fid=531

It's peer-judged--that is, the entrants are the judging pool (but not in the category they entered). You can opt out of one category in addition, as I recall (so if you'd not read erotic romance, for instance).

RWA sends five copies of the books out to people. They read-em and judge-em and send scores back. The top 4% become the finalists, with no more than 10 finalists per category. RWA sends five more copies of the books out to final judges to choose the winner.

So there's...actually not much the RWA could do/could have done/should do in terms of changing the contest. The author submitted the work for consideration and was one of the 2000. The publisher sent the copies. The novel was judged by five romance writers and deemed to meet the standards of romance and was also judged to be one of the top 4% of the inspirational romance category, and therefore was one of the finalists (there were five finalists which means there were probably about 125 inspirational romances entered).

This was one of the things that made me pause about the SBTB post - it's fine to be upset about the book and RIGHT to be upset - but I'm not sure RWA should be the target.

As Deb said:

"In a general sense, however -- the Christian fic story is set in an agreed-upon mindset: that salvation through Christ Jesus is the basic need of every individual. I'm not asking you to agree with this mindset; merely to acknowledge that it exists. (I feel it's tantamount to spiritual violence on another soul, to try to convince someone of the truth of my faith if s/he has not asked for such convincing.) That said, these beliefs do and must inform what we write, if we're to sell it as C-fic. The publishers want it that way."

And there's the rub. The issue here should be, IMO, the demands of Inspirational Romance to conform to this mindset. It means that any other religion other than a strictly defined version of Christianity will not be accepted - I bet if I wrote a Catholic hero or heroine it would be necessary for him/her to reform by the end of the book.

RWA isn't the problem here, IMO. It's the publisher, Bethany House, who allowed this to go through the system. But their target isn't the average romance reader - it's a niche market and that's what they want to sell.

I don't know what RWA can do or should do.

At least we know the book won't be up for a RITA next year.

Deb Kinnard · Aug 5, 2015

Why would an author submit to a Christian publisher a book that fits into a different faith? It'd be like sending Harlequin a police procedural or a hard SF story that doesn't contain any romance.

Maybe the question is whether an inspirational romance market has a right to exist at all.

I write fairly tame romance by some if not many standards, but I'm constantly told my work isn't "Christian enough" for these big houses. Meh. I'm quite happy with my small press, and the stuff that doesn't fit there, I self-pub. But what about the readers who want print books set in this niche market? Should they not be confident they'll find books to suit their reading tastes if they're not into mainstream romantic fic?

I'm sure we won't solve this debate here, and as I said, I'm not qualified to speak to this one book. But the C-fic industry may be on the cusp of trying more daring themes. On the surface of it, I'm not convinced they picked one that's right for today's readers.

andiwrite · Aug 5, 2015

Deb Kinnard said:
In a general sense, however -- the Christian fic story is set in an agreed-upon mindset: that salvation through Christ Jesus is the basic need of every individual.

Yes. If it's a Christian book, it's a Christian book. I haven't read it, but it sounds like the author is pretty ballsy to take on such topics. I wouldn't have the guts to write something like this even under a pen name.

Lillith1991 · Aug 5, 2015

andiwrite said:
Yes. If it's a Christian book, it's a Christian book. I haven't read it, but it sounds like the author is pretty ballsy to take on such topics. I wouldn't have the guts to write something like this even under a pen name.

What you call ballsy, I call pretty damn uncaring and insenative. I don't care whether someone writes this type of hero, more power to them if they can and he still ends up likable without being excused for his actions. The problem is making the story a story in which the heroine is Jewish and converts to Christianty through the hero and hardships helping her find Christ. Jews don't need Christ, and say that they do is disrepspectful at the least and antisemetic on the other end. What's more, there were officers who worked at these camps of Jewish heritage who martyred themselves to santify the name of god. Men who chose to turn their back on their people and ended up dying for them in the end instead. I've got little to no respect for them because of the suffering they chose to cause their fellow Jews, but I've got less than none for the Christian officers who caused the Jews, Romani, LGBT people, and disabled people so much damn pain by trying to wipe them out, often killing entire familys or leaving only one person alive. None.

They may deserve love, but not from someone who's people are suffering under their treatment or would have to worry about being turned in should their partner found out they were Jewish. And this story because of its content most likely includes her forgiving him for actions, which understandably makes people mad.

andiwrite · Aug 5, 2015

Lillith1991 said:
What you call ballsy, I call pretty damn uncaring and insenative.

Yeah, that's what I mean. It had to be obvious this would piss people off. But controversy does = more attention for the book.

amergina · Aug 5, 2015

andiwrite said:
Yeah, that's what I mean. It had to be obvious this would piss people off. But controversy does = more attention for the book.

I don't actually think it was to the author or publisher. Or the inspirational romance reviewers who read it for RT Reviews Magazine and Library Journal, since it garnered top praise. And I think that's part of the issue. It wasn't an issue for the Christian Inspirational Romance community. At all.

RichardGarfinkle · Aug 6, 2015

Reading about this was very disturbing on a number of levels, but one aspect stands out. Translating Esther to this setting actually illluminates how much Esther is not a romance. It's a hero story.

The correspondence between the situation depicted in the Book of Esther and the Holocaust works all too well. It shows the arbitrary brutal exercise of power from people who were casually willing to commit genocide. Esther's actions are those of a person willing to risk her own life to save her people. That she appealed to Xerxes as his wife to save her people does not make this a love story. Xerxes makes a number of arbitrary decisions through the story for personal motivations. He is portrayed as an arbitrary tyrant, willing to change his mind about life and death on a whim.

Persuading him is Esther's act of heroism, but it does not translate well into our modern idea of romance.

The Christian conversion is at best kind of ironic. The analogous act would have been Esther becoming a Zoroastrian.

Deb Kinnard · Aug 6, 2015

Maybe that, Amergina, is all that needs to be said. Outside its niche market, the book can obviously be seen as insensitive and anti-Semitic. Anti-Semitism from where I sit has no part in true Christianity. But within its market, it apparently found a readership that has no problem with the characters or the story itself.

I do hope that the publication of a story such as this will break C-fic free of the mold of the bonnet book and the historical fic that MUST be set in 1880s America to be acceptable. I do remember my then-agent pitching my medieval books and hearing that there is no Christian romance set before about 1600, and if you do write one, it must be set in Scotland (no clue why Scotland is acceptable while England is not). C-fic has lived very comfortably in this über-restrictive box for too long. High time someone kicked out the sides.

Viridian · Aug 6, 2015

RichardGarfinkle said:
Reading about this was very disturbing on a number of levels, but one aspect stands out. Translating Esther to this setting actually illluminates how much Esther is not a romance. It's a hero story.

The correspondence between the situation depicted in the Book of Esther and the Holocaust works all too well. It shows the arbitrary brutal exercise of power from people who were casually willing to commit genocide. Esther's actions are those of a person willing to risk her own life to save her people. That she appealed to Xerxes as his wife to save her people does not make this a love story. Xerxes makes a number of arbitrary decisions through the story for personal motivations. He is portrayed as an arbitrary tyrant, willing to change his mind about life and death on a whim.

Persuading him is Esther's act of heroism, but it does not translate well into our modern idea of romance.

Huh. That's a really interesting point.

andiwrite · Aug 6, 2015

amergina said:
It wasn't an issue for the Christian Inspirational Romance community. At all.

Definitely not, I'm reading the hashtag on twitter right now, and most of the comments are very positive.

Deb Kinnard · Aug 7, 2015

RWA weighs in, and while they didn't mention specific books, it seems germane to link here:

https://www.rwa.org/p/bl/et/blogid=20&blogaid=1205

amergina · Aug 7, 2015

Does anyone know if there's any discussion going on inside the Christian inspirational community about this? Or a statement from the publisher or author?

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