Much of the time, when readers and authors think of world building in novel, we’re thinking of setting and backdrop and the ‘place’ where the characters live, work, and journey through. Thinking of family and family dynamics may not seem like setting or backdrop – but a well-built world is more than background.
There are many talented authors who focus a great deal of their world building skills on family dynamics within a story. As an only child, the dynamics of big family gatherings mystified me and it shouldn’t be a surprise that I love reading big family scenes the way authors like Nora Roberts, Tanya Michaels, and Julia Quinn craft them (to name just a few).
The intricate, large, and often loud family dynamics in books like Roberts’ Blue Smoke and Quinn’s Bridgerton series draw me deeper into the story. The marvelous ‘family of choice’ groups like the friends Roberts’ put together in her Bride Quartet (and so many other books) are a wonderful testament to the power of true friendship. Those sibling rivalries and affections of Quinn’s Bridgertons read so believably real, they make me wish for brothers and sisters.
Even the smaller, often frustrating family dynamics like Michaels’ portrays in Tamed by a Texan when the heroine has her heart full with a mother with Alzheimer’s and her hands full with over-protective brothers who are actively ignoring a deal struck, raise the emotional stakes as the story unfolds.
Trust me, I’m very aware how fiction differs from reality, but that’s the beauty of it. Those authors weave a fantasy with their family groups that are every bit as intricate and hold as much discovery and adventure value for the reader as the new planets and galaxies created by Roddenberry or Lucas.
Family dynamics are an intricate part of each of us. And the emotions and exploration of those relationships and how they effect the character journeys become a large part of the world building that round out a good novel and push it firmly into the category of great novels.
If you’ve read those authors, do you have a favorite book or family? If you haven’t yet read those authors, I daresay you won’t be disappointed!
Live the adventure!
