Marriage and Mania: Disparate Depictions of Bipolar Disorder in Mainstream Romance Novels

When characters with mental illness appear in popular fiction, it is typically because the work itself focuses on the mental illness. However, there is a small contingent of fictional projects that have characters with mental illness that do not make that illness the central plot. These books follow the typical narrative arc and literary conventions of their genre and include conflicts unrelated to mental illness; psychiatric disorder is featured but defines neither the character nor the book.   Authors writing about mental illness, however small or large a part of the plot, can raise public awareness and understanding or can strengthen harmful misconceptions. Two recent romance novels, both of which include a character with bipolar disorder, present strikingly different viewpoints in many respects. In Promises Under the Peach Tree by Joanne Rock, a Harlequin Super Romance published in September 2014, Mack Finley and his high school sweetheart Nina Spencer are reunited in their hometown of Heartache, Tennessee, after a separation of many years. Nina is fleeing a failed business venture in New York City; Mack has returned because his brother Scott’s marriage is on the rocks. Readers learn that Mack and Nina were driven apart by tragic events surrounding their graduation; however, their relationship faced additional challenges because of Mack’s commitment to avoid fathering children. Growing up with a mother who suffered from bipolar disorder, Mack experienced firsthand t...
Source: Psych Central - Category: Psychiatry Authors: Tags: Bipolar Essays Policy and Advocacy Psychology Women's Issues Bipolar Disorder Compassion Empathy genre fiction mania Manic Episode romance novels Stigma Stigmatization Source Type: news