Recession Fiction...

06 September 2010 by Matt.Lynn

There's some discussion out there about recession fiction, According to this piece in The Independent, publishers are demanding changes from their chick-lit authors to fit more straighten times. Meanwhile, the Daily Mail chips in with a peice about 'recession-lit'

Out go the sex-and-shopping bonkbusters, it seems. In come frugal tales of coping with the recession.

I wonder if the same trend applies to thrillers. Less obviously, in the sense that popular women's fiction is very materialistic. Thrillers don't have so much shopping in them anyway.

But in another sense, all popular fiction has to capture the mood. I suspect people are going to want more escapism, and more heroes who have fallen on hard times and want to make some quick money. I try to touch on some of those themes in my mercenary stories.

But I suspect it is a rich vein for thriller writers to mine. More financial thrillers, perhaps? More heist thrillers? And more mega-rich villains.

2 comment(s) for “Recession Fiction...”

  1. crimeficreader says:

    Defying the perceived trend, there is, of course, Jess Ruston’s Luxury published this summer and called a “bonkbuster”, albeit with the sex toned down in comparison with Shirley Conran et al in former decades, so I read. And perhaps kinder to fish. Who knows? As for the lipstick and handbag brigade, and anything that comes in a pink and/or glittery cover, this has never remotely interested me. I’d rather slip my feet into a lovely pair of shoes than read about other women salivating over them. And when it comes to reading, I’d rather read crime and thrillers.

    At the turn of the new millennium, I heard that the financial thriller was dead. (Which had me wondering if Michael Ridpath would have to reinvent himself.) But it seems to be coming back now. Although I think writers should be wary as public opinion remains vitriolic for bankers and MPs. Few, in reality, seem to have grasped the public’s desire to see retribution and atonement, so if a novel set an example on this I think it could sell well. I can imagine comments such as “Oh I loved that novel where all those rich bankers got blown up on that yacht in Monaco”.

    I don’t think we live in times when the mega-rich would go down well, but someone picking themselves up after a disaster could be inspirational and sell well, especially if it was based on integrity.

    One last point: I think you can find materialism in thrillers too. Just think of the novels featuring a serial killer who likes to keep trophies and where the body count is high. Another expiring trend, thank God.

  2. Leigh Russell says:

    I can see mega-rich villains becoming more popular even than shopping . . . and equally irresistible - the new chicklit, perhaps?

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