Mysteries of Femininity: Unraveling Character Strength in Romantic Suspense Novels from the 1960s to the 2010s
By Alessandra Dounias (2025)
This report explores the portrayal of femininity in the romantic suspense novels and careers of Mary Stewart, Nora Roberts, and Laura Griffin, spanning from the 1960s through the 2010s. Drawing upon a diverse array of primary sources—including author interviews, promotional blurbs, and articles from relevant newspapers and magazines—I will investigate how these authors craft their female protagonists. Their narratives craft heroines who are not only strong, independent, and intelligent, but also relatable and realistically flawed. These authors consistently depict female protagonists who, despite facing daunting challenges, display remarkable resilience and determination. While Stewart laid the groundwork by writing female protagonists who were central to unraveling mysteries—even if they were often unemployed, Roberts and Griffin incorporated professional women, from school teachers to forensic anthropologists, with active sex lives into their narratives. At their cores, these authors’ heroines are flawed, making them resonate with readers seeking characters who mirror the complex realities of contemporary life. According to some book critics, their stories celebrate the complexity of femininity, offering readers characters who are both flawed and powerful, reflecting a more nuanced, realistic depiction of women’s lives in romantic suspense fiction.
Three of the words that continued to come up as descriptors of all three authors’ female protagonists were strong, intelligent, and independent. Often labeled the “Queen of Romantic Suspense,” Mary Stewart was a British author who published romantic suspense and fantasy novels from 1955 to 1997, and sold millions of copies of her bestselling books in the United States. Stewart’s heroines, often thrown into mysterious circumstances, navigate their trials with courage. In her 1992 interview with Jenny Brown for the Scottish Television program Off the Page, Stewart responds to the question “Did the people come easily to you—those confident young heroines of yours?” by saying “Well, I don’t know. They’re not confident you know. My first heroine was very much like me, scared of everything! But she had to get through whatever happened, and she did.” Stewart typically wrote confident heroines, but she claimed they were simply normal women being faced with mysterious challenges. They were determined to push through these struggles, demonstrating their strength. Stewart was also mentioned often in a New York Times column titled Criminals at Large written by Anthony Boucher. He frequently praised her writing, particularly in his January 18th, 1959 column, where he wrote:
“That special sub-species of mystery one might call the Cinderella-suspense novel is designed by feminine authors for feminine readers…I can’t think of anyone who tells such stories quite so well as Mary Stewart…her heroines are always spirited, intelligent, resolute––quite free from the vapid idiocy which mars most books of this type. These girls are worth meeting, whatever the sex of the reader.”
Boucher makes it clear that, in his opinion, Stewart’s female protagonists are different from those of most authors of the genre at the time. Stewart writes about intelligent women, who are determined to solve the mysteries they are faced with, in spite of the danger it may put them in. He claims her protagonists are not the typical dumb heroines of other romantic suspense novels, making them worthy of being read by a wide audience composed of both women and men. He also refers to the protagonist of her novel Nine Coaches Waiting as a “little governess” who realizes something is suspicious about her husband’s supposed business trip, and puts herself in danger to figure out what has happened. In the blurb of her 1965 bestselling novel Airs Above the Ground, Stewart’s protagonist Vanessa March is described as “lovely” and “very much in love” with her new husband, who she goes to Vienna to find when she sees him in multiple newsreel shots from different crime scenes, and there “her hunt for answers only leads to more sinister questions in a mysterious world of white stallions of Vienna.” The blurb highlights Vanessa not only as beautiful, but also as a determined and proactive female protagonist who, upon witnessing something suspicious, takes matters into her own hands and travels to Vienna. Stewart creates a strong representation of femininity characterized by bravery and intelligence rather than passive victimhood.
Nora Roberts, bestselling author of over 225 books that have sold fifty million copies worldwide, dominated the romantic suspense genre from the late 80s through the early 2000s, boasting over 21 RITA award wins, with nine being in the romantic suspense category specifically. Roberts believes a strong female protagonist is necessary for a good romantic suspense novel. When asked “what makes a good Nora Roberts heroine?” in a 2023 interview with Lulu Garcia-Navarro for the New York Times, Roberts replied “Oh, I think you need a strong woman or a woman who finds her strength through her journey in the story. Independent, strong, interesting—those are really important qualities. I don’t want to write about a weak person, especially a woman. But she’s going to be flawed, because who wants perfect?” Roberts isn’t interested in writing about weak women because she finds them to be uninteresting. She believes femininity should be defined by independence and strength. In her 1998 interview with Judy Quinn for Publishers Weekly, Roberts said “my heroine may have problems, she may be vulnerable but she has to be strong, she has to be intelligent. She has to be independent and so does he, or I’m not interested in telling their stories.” For Roberts, female protagonists might be vulnerable and dealing with their own emotional problems, but they still had to be strong, intelligent, and independent. Roberts also described Miranda Jones, the protagonist of her novel Homeport as “so much smarter” than herself, contributing to the idea that intelligence is a key feminine trait of her protagonists. Additionally, in her 1998 interview with Claire E. White for The Internet Writing Journal, Roberts says she believes that as American writers began writing romance novels, heroines became “sharper, stronger, and more accessible to the reader,” and that they were less reliant on the male love interest and more able to figure things out on their own, taking the story into their own hands. She gave her female protagonists plenty of agency in her novels. For example, in the blurb of her 1988 novel Brazen Virtue, the female protagonist Grace, is described as a “superstar mystery novelist” who goes to visit her sister Kathleen who is working as a phone sex operator for Fantasy, Inc. while going through a complicated divorce. The blurb says:
“According to Kathleen, Fantasy, Inc., guarantees its employees ironclad anonymity. But Grace has her doubts—which are confirmed one horrifying cherry-blossom-scented night when one of Fantasy, Inc.’s operators is murdered. As Grace is drawn to help solve the crime, her life turns into a scene from one of her own books…she’s hoping to trap a killer more twisted than anything she could imagine.”
This blurb introduces Grace as a strong female protagonist, as she is a successful mystery novelist who is actively involved in solving a real-life crime, portraying her as both intellectually engaged and courageous. It highlights her independence and her willingness to confront danger, characteristics that are central to Roberts’ portrayal of femininity.
Moving into the 2010s, bestselling author Laura Griffin primarily wrote romantic suspense series fiction, like her New York Times bestselling Tracers series published from 2009 to 2019. She received one nomination and won two RITA awards (both in the romantic suspense category) as well as the Daphne du Maurier award. When describing Leyla, the female protagonist of her novel Deep Tide, in her 2023 interview with Danielle for No Apology Book Reviews, Griffin says “she puts herself in dangerous situations which increase exponentially when she tries to help Sean with the undercover mission.” From this, it is clear that Griffin also creates strong, courageous heroines who throw themselves into danger. In another interview with Danielle for No Apology Book Reviews done in 2021, Danielle writes about Miranda, the female protagonist of Griffin’s novel Flight, saying “although Miranda wanted to escape the life she led before, she finds herself unable to step away. She has a nose for detail…Joel wants to protect her and the community, while Miranda is an intelligent and complex character.” Once again, Griffin writes an intelligent female lead with an eye for detail who cannot take herself away from the dangerous situation until she figures it out, even while the male love interest tries to keep her from it. Additionally, in a 2017 Crimespree Magazine interview, in response to the question “how would you describe the main heroine, Karly?” Griffin says she is “bold, fearless, athletic, and sensitive,” and later describes Brooke, another one of her heroines, as “strong, smart, opinionated, but guarded. She lacks confidence in her personal life and is very reluctant to get involved in a relationship.” Griffin also has other reasons for why she chooses to write strong female protagonists. When asked about one of her novels that tells the story of a woman who is a victim of harassment and abuse in her Crimespree Magazine interview, she says, “I wanted to show that the person does not necessarily have to be a ‘victim type,’ someone weak, helpless, and incapable. Many see the warning signs, but do not listen to them. It can happen to someone smart, opinionated, strong, and competent.” Griffin wanted to write about a strong, smart heroine to show that women with these traits can also be victims of abuse. She felt it was important to write the heroine with these traits to make a statement about femininity and how a woman’s circumstances are not reflective of their strengths and weaknesses. In the blurb of her 2012 novel Scorched, the character of Kelsey Quinn is depicted as a highly skilled forensic anthropologist, illustrating a professional and intellectual aspect of femininity that is central to many of Griffin’s characters. Kelsey’s role involves solving complex crimes that frequently put her in danger, suggesting she is not only competent but also pivotal in critical situations. This reflects Griffin’s characteristic portrayal of women who are both emotionally resilient and professionally adept. This combination of professional expertise and personal courage fits well with Griffin’s typical portrayal of strong, multidimensional female protagonists in suspenseful settings.
Mary Stewart, Nora Roberts, and Laura Griffin also depict heroines who redefine femininity through their relatability and agency. These authors create characters that resonate with readers due to their realism and complex emotional landscapes, crafting narratives where women navigate challenges with intelligence and independence. In both Roberts’ and Griffin’s novels, women are not confined to passive roles. Their heroines engage actively in their narratives, often possessing careers that place them on equal footing with their male counterparts, contrasting sharply with earlier genre norms that emphasized submission and conquest. As Garcia-Navarro said in her interview with Nora Roberts, “A Nora Roberts book featured women with jobs—maybe a regular job like a graphic designer—whose loves and lives are worthy of a novel. All of a sudden, the characters didn’t have to be pirates or duchesses.” Roberts replied, “yes, you could be a gym teacher, or a secretary. But hopefully you were the C.E.O. You could be divorced, you could be widowed, you could have kids, you could not have kids.” Roberts makes it clear that her heroine could be anyone. There is no “perfect” or ideal heroine, she could fit into a number of different boxes, making her heroines women many readers could relate to. In her interview with Judy Quinn, Roberts says she could “hardly relate” to the “terrified 18-year-old young virgins” that most romance novels centered on, so she never wrote about a virginal female protagonist. For her, lack of sexual experience is not representative of femininity.
Laura Griffin’s female protagonists are also all working women, with job descriptions like “forensic photographer,” “lead detective,” and “forensic anthropologist.” Much like Roberts, Griffin also wrote very realistic female protagonists who readers enjoyed reading about, which Danielle praises in her 2021 interview with Griffin when she writes “she excels at writing characters the readers root for.” The most realistic portrayal of femininity for Griffin seems to be a working woman with plenty of emotional baggage. In response to the question “how would you describe Leyla?” asked by Danielle in her 2023 Deep Tide interview, Griffin says:
“She is guarded and does not wear her emotions on her sleeve. She is cynical when it comes to relationships. Sometimes she is prickly, competitive, and controlling…Sean can chip away her hard exterior…He was tenacious while she was evasive. She does not have a lot of trust in men. At first, she writes Sean off, but he is persistent.”
Griffin’s female protagonists tend to be complicated and unemotional. Leyla does not want to be in a relationship because she is so independent and emotionally unavailable, which is not typical of Roberts’ or Stewart’s protagonists. Similarly, Griffin describes Miranda, another of her protagonists, as “conflicted…she has a lot of baggage that makes her anxious. She decides to stay at Lost Beach to escape the emotional upheaval she experienced at her job as a forensic photographer. She has guilt, anger, confusion, and worries about the previous case.” Her female protagonists deal with trauma and mental health issues, making them complex characters who are strong enough to push through the dangerous situations they are faced with in spite of all their complexities.
While Mary Stewart’s romantic suspense novels often highlighted intelligent and determined heroines, these women were typically confined to roles like governesses, wives, or widows rather than having independent professional careers, like heroines in Roberts’ and Griffin’s novels. In the 1973 New York Times article “Gothic Novels for Women Are Proving Bonanza for Publishers,” A. Fawcett’s vice president Leona Nevier is quoted saying:
“The novels usually have heroines who are very bright, very upper class in their inclinations…But because they are female, they are often poor, they can’t make their way in the world, and therefore they must serve as governesses or whatever. They are women who really ought to be doing something better, but are thwarted in their aspirations and in their capabilities. In almost every case they are triumphant, though the way out is through romance; and I think many women readers who seethe inside respond to these heroines.”
Stewart’s heroines, in spite of how intelligent and driven they were, were often poor and forced into subordinate positions. Although Nevier notes that these women eventually triumph, she emphasizes that romance serves as their only real path to greater agency. As Nevier says, many female readers at the time found Stewart’s heroines’ positions relatable and responded well to their stories. This dependence on romantic relationships for social advancement sets Stewart’s heroines apart from the more professionally empowered protagonists created by Nora Roberts and Laura Griffin. In fact, Roberts’ novels often place the female protagonist on equal footing with the male lead. In her 2023 interview with Roberts, Garcia-Navarro said:
“Instead of pirates and princesses, the heroines were women with regular jobs who faced challenges with wit, ambition, and strength. Love in a Nora Roberts book wasn’t about conquest and submission, as it was in most romance novels at the time, but rather about equality and partnership.”
Roberts wrote about regular women, not high class women, princesses, or pirates with occupations the typical reader might themselves have. In response to Garcia-Navarro’s question about the conquesting male stereotype typical of romance novels, Roberts says “I certainly wouldn’t write that today. But at that time, that was the market. And I hedged it by having the heroine on equal ground, sexually. I mean, sometimes she was the plunderer!” Roberts says that she occasionally subverts the trope of the conquesting male, having the female be the one in a position of sexual power. However, women were usually on equal footing to their male partners. They did not need to be submissive or dominant in the bedroom or otherwise.
On the farther end of the spectrum, Griffin’s female protagonists are often completely independent, as they are emotionally closed off and not looking for romantic relationships at all. In her 2021 Flight interview with Danielle for No Apology Book Reviews, Griffin describes her male and female protagonists, Joel and Miranda, as “smart, independent, and need[ing] to learn to trust each other, because of their emotional lockdown. Both are wary of having a relationship and are not looking for a serious one.” She also says in her 2017 Crimespree Magazine interview that her heroine, Brooke, “is strong, smart, opinionated, but guarded. She lacks confidence in her personal life and is very reluctant to get involved in a relationship.” For Griffin, it is not essential for her heroines to desire romantic relationships or love, and their independence and emotional guardedness are their core traits.
Overall, Mary Stewart, Nora Roberts, and Laura Griffin’s depictions of femininity focus on their portrayals of heroines as complex, strong, and relatable figures. Through an examination of primary sources, this analysis underscores how these authors craft female characters who embody strength, independence, and intelligence, reflecting a nuanced understanding of femininity within the sub-genre.
Bibliography
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Book Reviews, May 19, 2023,
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