Here, a black slice for Borderline (Hugo), there, a plastic film so as not to leave Adeline’s Shadow (Roncière) fall under any gaze, elsewhere still a “For informed public” for Lakestone (BMR) or a “From 18 years” for Hooked (Plumes du Web)… For several weeks now, product packaging and warnings have been popping up on the shelves of bookstores that we imagine would be more at home in the adult stores of Pigalle than in mainstream cultural brands. What caused this sudden surge in precautions? The rejuvenation of the readership of dark romance, literature featuring love stories in a climate of violence and toxic relationships between characters. The surge of schoolgirls, sometimes aged 11 or 12, who came with friends to acquire this or that book after hearing about it on social networks, led publishers to think seriously about the issue. Between desire to warn without giving the impression of censoring. Between the desire to avoid criticism in these MeToo years and the desire not to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.
Driven by the deployment of the Culture Pass, the dark romance market is showing performances that leave one dreaming, concentrated on a few titles. At BMR, the series Captive by Sarah Rivens achieved more than 15 million euros in turnover with a first volume sold more than 400,000 copies according to Edistat, which earned her a place in the L’Express bestseller list for the year 2023. Lakestone, by the same author, has brought in a little more than 2.6 million euros since January. At Hugo, the “dark” does not reach the heights of the flagship novelist of the house, Morgane Moncomble, but volume 1 of Borderline by Joyce Kitten, published at the beginning of January, sold 10,000 copies in one month and volume 2, in bookstores since February 28, benefited from an equivalent distribution. Hooked by Emily McIntire, published by Plumes du Web, sold more than 25,000 copies.
Without hiding their satisfaction, publishers and booksellers quickly understood that they would be the first to be targeted if a title turned out to be too controversial. They felt concern growing on social networks, particularly among older readers who warned against the discovery of certain titles by those under 13. Should these works be left freely accessible to everyone? Which have no place in children’s literature or “young adult” literature intended for adolescents and must be accompanied by a warning? What image of couples, love and sexuality do they convey to young girls who have sometimes never even exchanged a simple kiss with a partner? Presented in an adult collection, these books are not subject to the 1949 law on publications intended for young people, nor to the commission responsible for examining them. Which leaves booksellers, librarians and publishers without legal obligation, but held to an ill-defined, somewhat moral responsibility.
Booksellers trick themselves into the shelves
Everyone therefore invented their own system. At Hugo, from now on, all dark romance titles will be distinguished by their black edge, a “warned public” pictogram on the back cover and a warning written by the author at the beginning of the book. “We were able to have texts which, in the past, were put in the wrong hands, hence this choice,” explains Arthur de Saint-Vincent, the general director of the house. However, our duty as publisher is not is not to say if it is good or bad, but to give the keys to booksellers so that people are aware of what they are buying.” At Plumes du Web, two mentions are provided: “From 16 years old” and “From 18 years old” for the toughest texts. “We have been in bookstores since November 2022, the question arose very quickly, with very demanding readers on the trigger warning [NDLR : liste d’avertissements en page de garde]. We preferred to display things clearly, as we get older,” adds Caroline Sobczak, the manager of the house.
Mentioning age has no legal significance, a minor can perfectly buy the books in question, the warning mainly serves as an alert for booksellers, who are often ill-equipped to advise their customers, particularly parents. Even when they specialize in adolescent literature, booksellers do not always want to delve into these very large works, with convoluted plots and writing very inspired by that of social networks. Which are, moreover, published at a rapid pace as romance readers are “devourers”. As a result, some of these titles end up in the wrong aisle. Or, as in this large Parisian brand, on the same shelf as the American Danielle Steel, a specialist in romance novels, certainly not very modern, but not exactly to be placed in the violence or pornography section.
It’s not always easy, either, to find the words to warn parents, who are only too happy that their daughter is starting to read, sometimes in English because she wants to know the latest adventures of her heroine without waiting for the French translation. “From time to time, we manage to slip in: ‘How old is the girl for whom this gift is intended?’, but a lot of people ask us what we’re getting involved in,” admits a bookseller. Young readers who come alone are not more receptive: “With the age difference, we can quickly appear as censors. If they tell us that their parents agree, we can’t do much without support of the latter”, recognizes the bookstore manager of a large cultural network. Most often, in order not to get angry with some of the customers, nor to offend others, booksellers use trickery. By affixing clearly visible stickers, but which they sometimes find torn off. By positioning the most violent books on the cold side of the tables, that is to say the least visible when entering the store, while knowing that this game of cat and mouse is a little futile with young girls who know exactly what they are looking for. At Cultura, however, for the first time, Adeline’s Shadow, published on March 7, is not open access and is only provided on request. A way to assess the age of the buyer.
In libraries and/or media libraries, the audience for these books is more naturally filtered because cards allowing borrowing from the adult section are only issued to those over 14 or 15 years old. “In the case of a younger girl, I tell her that it is her parents who must borrow the book,” explains a head of the youth section in a media library in Occitanie. And if the user is over 15 years old, I show him where it is but I take the opportunity to suggest other titles of love literature: Clémentine Beauvais or The Red and the Black.” The method does not work for sure. Adolescence is more than ever an age where adult advice awakens the desire to transgress. “When I was young, we read Me, Christiane F., drug addict, prostitute… Or Blue Grass without anyone protesting, procrastinates Ludivine Demol, doctoral student in communication and information sciences. On the other hand, more than age, what should differentiate readers is: are they supported, can they talk about what shocks them?”
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