2

In advance: I'm sorry for write so badly in English. I am a Spanish writer.

My wife is writing a book about the life of 4 women. This morning she asked me about which genre her novel belongs to.

At first, I respond very quickly "literary fiction". But now, after talking about the way she has been orienting the scenes, I'm not so sure.

In general, she is writing about 4 women of different ages, living through different dramatics situations. The setting is contemporary, and the women are all between 25 and 45 years. Every character shows part of her life and her way to take the best decisions for her family, friends and for themself.

At the end, it is just a picture of the way that women live on our current times and society.

My question: which is this genre?

Improve this question

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
3

Welcome to the community, Hedufigo.

It sounds to me as though your wife is clearly writing "Women's Fiction."

Women's fiction is an umbrella term for women centered books that focus on women's life experience that are marketed to female readers, and includes many mainstream novels. It is distinct from Women's writing, which refers to literature written by (rather than promoted to) women.

Edit:

I am not certain why this answer is being down voted.

Three hundred and eighty four literary agents (384) on AgentQuery self-identify as representing "Women's fiction" and it is clearly defined on many writer blogs, agencies, and so on. Barnes and Noble has an entire section for Women's Fiction. Many authors write Women's Fiction. In fact, there is a writer's association specifically for Women's Fiction.

If men want a "Men's Fiction" genre, the way to get it is not to say that "Women's Fiction" does not exist. That's veering quite close to mysogyny.

You can't simply say that something doesn't exist--when that thing has dedicated writers, agents, associations, awards, and so on and so forth.

This is beyond bizarre to me.

Original poster, your description is very clearly Women's Fiction,

And there are 384 agents that represent the sort of book your wife is writing. It is a recognized genre.

Improve this answer
7
  • 2
    I deliberately didn't use that term because too often any book written about a female main character gets thrown into that bin. But we never see "men's fiction" as a label. Books about male characters are just "fiction."
    – Cyn
    Oct 11, 2018 at 16:41
  • Comicbooks are "men's fiction".
    – wetcircuit
    Oct 11, 2018 at 16:46
  • Not the comic books I read. <g>
    – Cyn
    Oct 11, 2018 at 18:56
  • 2
    Yes, it's a known grouping. So is "chick flick" for movies. But it's a poor way to divide up literature and has sexist underpinnings, even if you had zero intention to present it that way. I still will not call "Women's fiction" a genre. A marketing term, sure. A category, absolutely. But it's not a primary division I'd want to use, like contemporary vs historical or adult vs young adult. It may be that Hudufigo's wife's novel will get marketed as WF. But that's not the starting classification. And just because it's about women's lives doesn't mean it should be diverted to the WF shelf.
    – Cyn
    Oct 11, 2018 at 19:03
  • 1
    DPT, I believe @Cyn's claim wasn't that there's no need for literature devoted to women's issues, but rather that literature devoted to women's issues is part of "literature devoted to people's issues", women being people. Nor should such literature be read exclusively by women - why shouldn't men also read it? Thus, literature about people, for people = fiction.
    – Galastel supports GoFundMonica
    Oct 11, 2018 at 22:34
4

Sounds like straight-forward contemporary adult fiction. Good luck to her!

Improve this answer
1
  • 1
    Agree. "Women" are not a genre. It's just called "fiction".
    – wetcircuit
    Oct 11, 2018 at 16:41

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.