What Makes a Book Emotionally Rich?

I recently updated my bio to say: 'Marley writes emotionally rich women's fiction books about dysfunctional families and personal growth'. "Cool," you say, "What the heck does 'emotionally rich' mean?" Good question! Let's find out...

Okay, yes, I confess... The term 'emotionally rich' is just book jargon, but it does create some expectations about a book. If a book cover says that it's 'packed with adventure,' then you're going to expect an exciting journey; If it says that it's 'sure to make you cry,' then you're going to expect to be saddened, otherwise, the expectations set were not met, and you won't feel satisfied. Okay, so...

What to Expect From an Emotionally Rich Book

I'm going to do this in dot points because it keeps things simple. That being said, not every emotionally rich book is going to match every single dot point in this list, but this gives you an idea of what to expect:

Expectations for the READER:

• Deep/thoughtful - Makes the reader think. It's not shallow

• Works the reader's emotions

• Makes the reader feel things

• Provokes some physiological responses in the reader - a heavy chest, a surge of excitement, relief, a quickened heartbeat, tears, squeals, goosebumps, a sigh, or gritted teeth.

• Enables readers to step into the character's shoes.

• Has an impact on the reader - Ideally, they won't just close the book and forget about what they read forever. The story will stick with them.

These things keep happening! If it's emotionally rich, the book should be full of things that make you think, feel, and have physiological responses.

Expectations for the CHARACTER:

• The characters think

• Contains characters that feel - They don't just do. It's not all about the plot, you're going to get some insight into what's going on inside the character

• Character-driven - The plot is just as much about the character's journey as it is the story that is unfolding. The story unfolds through the character/s (not to them)

• Inner dialogue - The book will often contain characters' thoughts and feelings. The point of view is in some way omniscient.

• Honesty - The characters don't seem fake or two-dimensional. They have real problems and struggles.

Again, these things keep happening! If it's emotionally rich, the book and characters should be full of thinking, feeling, and depth.

So, what genre is an emotionally rich book?

If it's emotionally rich, does that mean that it's literary?

No. It doesn't. It could be, but it doesn't have to be.

A book can be deep and meaningful, but not literary. I wrote a whole blog post about literary fiction, you can find that here: What is Literary Fiction?

An emotionally rich book can be any genre: crime, thriller, drama, sci-fi, fantasy, etc.

Do you like your books to be deep and emotionally rich? Or do you prefer something light to help you escape the emotional turmoil in the world?

Happy reading.

Much love,

Marley