‘No one is going to take your work seriously until you do’ — Best-selling author Emily Henry on why the world needs romantic fiction

Growing up with two older brothers, Emily Henry saw a lot of cultural output aimed at women as silly and uncool. Now, as the best-selling author of joyful romance novels, she believes we need to reframe that narrative

Author Emily Henry, who has sold over four million books since her first publication in 2016. Photo: Devyn Glista

Liadán Hynes

‘I think that every book that I have written has been a reaction to the last book,” Emily Henry says with a smile. She’s describing how writing Happy Place, her last book about a couple who have broken up but find themselves having to pretend they are still a couple, put her slightly through the ringer. When it came to her next book, she wanted something that provided an easier working environment.

“There is really the emotional landscape of myself as a writer and what I feel like I need. With Happy Place, it was just a lot more angst and sadness than I expected. This book [Funny Story] was fun because it was the reverse of Happy Place. I’m taking these characters, starting in this very low place, but I was, for some reason, able to mine it for humour in a way that it just didn’t quite work with two characters who I was going to bring back together.”