According to Novelist Elizabeth Famous, Outdated Assumptions Harm Women’s Literature

New York, NY (PRWEB) October 09, 2013

Elizabeth Famous begins by explaining that when you read a popular contemporary romance novel you’ll find two perfectly nice, well-adjusted people kept apart by two or three pesky obstacles. The protagonist discovers that her love interest is her instructor in freshman drama class and could lose his job if they continue to date. Or he has cancer and an angel must step in and shrink his tumor to allow them to live happily ever after.

“The hero of the story may have a bad reputation, but this is a facade,” says Famous. “When he meets the heroine — who’s unlike the slutty girls he used to have sex with — he does a 180 and wants to take things slow.”

LOVE and CANDY by Elizabeth Famous refuses to play this unrealistic game of “Look at me, I’m Sandra Dee!” The book is about imperfect characters struggling with internal character flaws. Delaney, a modern day Mr. Rochester who openly admits he’s only interested in hooking up, fascinates vulnerable Samantha so much that she jumps into a physical relationship with him.

Some in the audience say, “She’s giving herself away with nothing in return, with no commitment from him,” but Ms. Famous explains that this presupposes a traditional view of feminine virtue: Sex outside a loving, stable relationship is not good for women. In other words, sex is not something a young woman should want or enjoy in and of itself.

“In much of popular fiction, a female character who has casual sex ends up regretting it by the end of the book,” says Elizabeth Famous during the event at To Be Continued Bookstore in Metuchen, NJ. “Writers cling to outdated views about women,”

In line with the trend in social media to reject ‘slut shaming,’ Samantha, the protagonist in LOVE and CANDY, isn’t punished for her impulsive choices about sex. In fact they contribute to her happiness. “The story offers a modern and progressive take on romantic love,” says Famous.

Paperback and e-book versions of LOVE and CANDY are available through Amazon and Barnes & Noble. The book is also available at To Be Continued Bookstore in Metuchen, NJ. Find reviews at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18135166-love-and-candy