Read a hundred back cover blurbs of romance novels, and you’ll find a hundred different tropes, meet cutes, plot twists, and challenges to overcome—the list could go on. But all will/should have one thing in common: the path will ultimately lead to a happy ending.
And they all lived happily ever after.
Being the curious person that I am, I wondered where this well-known phrase originated. There appear to be two trains of thought regarding this, both appearing on Quora (www.quora.com). Gaku Sato says, “Variations appear in Boccaccio’s The Decameron from 1350s. It’s in Florentine Italian, and various similar forms are used repeatedly. So this is a very early use of the idea if not the precise formula. From the famous John Payne translation:
‘they continued happy together as long as they lived’
‘and lived happily with him all the rest of her life’
‘They lived afterwards very happily together.’
and many more.”
According to John Welch, “the first recorded use of ‘happily ever after’ occurs in a translation of a story by Giovanni Boccaccio’s in his Il Decamerone, (The Decameron) published in 1702. It ends with a marriage, described thus: ‘Paganino, hearing the news, married the widow, and as they were very well acquainted, so they lived very lovingly, and happily, ever after’.
Early in the 1800s two German brothers, Wilhelm & Jacob Grimm, collected and published more than 200 fairy tales. At about the same time a Dutchman, Hans Christian Andersen, was also writing similar stories. When translated into English these often began and ended with the formulaic: ‘Once upon a time…’ and ‘… and they [all] lived happily ever after’. (Whether that accurately reflects what was written in the original languages I can’t say.)”
PSA: A friendly reminder, what we read on the Internet may or may not be true. 😊
As a romance reader and writer, a happy ending is paramount. On the few occasions when I’ve finished a story and this isn’t the case, I have expressed my clear disappointment—kindly, of course—in a review. Even when there is another book in the series, each one needs to come to some sort of satisfying conclusion—for me.
I construct my books in an unconventional way. I write the beginning first, then the ending, and then let the characters figure out how to get there. In most cases, the ending contains a “grand gesture.” I want the happy ending to move my readers. I want them to laugh and cry!
Now, it’s your turn. I want to hear your thoughts about the HEA (happily ever after):
- How important is the HEA to you? Is a declaration of wanting to exclusively date or even an “I love you” sufficient?
- Should the HEA include a marriage proposal? A wedding? One widely used strategy is to end the book with an engagement and then an epilogue with the wedding. Do you like this combination?
- Another approach is ending the book with a wedding and an epilogue taking place anywhere from one to a few years later that gives the reader information about the couple’s family life—children, etc. Do you prefer this long-term wrap-up? Of course, if there is a next book in the series, oftentimes these details are revealed when the main characters from an earlier book make an appearance.
Leave a comment with your favorite kind of happy ending and/or tell me the best one you’ve ever read (title and author if you can remember), and you’ll be entered into a random drawing for my newest release, Sisters Ever After* (eBook for international readers, choice of print or eBook for US). Deadline to comment is 5PM MST on Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024.
One more thing. While God’s design for love and marriage can offer a beautiful happy ending, it’s not the most important one. …HE is the real hope for that eternal happily-ever-after (quoted with permission from author Jennifer Rodewall). If you have not yet accepted Christ’s gift of salvation, I would love to walk you through the simple steps and pray with you. Send me an email at Erin@ESQwrites.com
* Did you see that EVER AFTER appears in the title? I guarantee it has a most happy ending.
Erin has been writing faith-based romance novels for almost a decade. She is published in multiple formats and is a member of ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers), where she has served as a judge, category coordinator, and was a 2021 Carol Award finalist. Grounding her novels in reality, Erin crafts characters who encounter events and hardships familiar to everyone. Her inspirational writing will take the reader down paths of both joy and pain, but always highlighting God’s faithfulness.
Sometimes an author will switch the POV characters in an epilogue to introduce the next book in a series. I find that kind of ending unsatisfactory. I think it diminishes the “happily-ever-after” of the couple the book is about, especially if it happens at the wedding of that couple.
I think the Happy Ever After is really important to me – if a book is part of a series, the HEA doesn’t have to mean every loose end is tied up, but I have to be sure the hero and heroine are sure about their own feelings, sure about each other and that we as readers are sure that this means their relationship will continue to a happy marriage, even if the proposal hasn’t happened yet. An engagement or wedding make a lovely ending, but it doesn’t have to happen for every book.
I really enjoy series of books where characters appear again so you can see how things work out for them, but for stand alone books an epilogue is great.
One of my all time favourite classics, Jane Austen’s ‘Persuasion’ does the HEA ending perfectly in my opinion. We get a lovely summary of what happens to all the main characters going forward, and reassurance that the hero and heroine are together and happy – not that life will always be perfect for them, but that their relationship is secure ‘Anne was tenderness itself, and she had the full worth of it in Captain Wentworth’s affection. His profession was all that could ever make her friends wish that tenderness less, the dread of a future war all that could dim her sunshine’.
Hi, Beth. I love book series and had never seen the POV switch in an epilogue until recently. At first I was a bit confused, but it grew on me. I haven’t done this in any of my series. The next book is always about one or two minor characters from the previous book, and I usually leave a few breadcrumbs to set up the next story. Thanks for commenting!
Ah yes, few authors craft characters like Jane Austen, so their HEA is that much more satisfying. You expressed some lovely thoughts.
I agree, my favorite part about a book series is when characters from previous books with whom I have connected come back. I always enjoy seeing that they are still living their happy ending. I think I first learned this from Karen Kingsbury’s books, and I write all of my series this way.
Thanks for stopping by!
I don’t mind if the HEA is an engagement, an implied engagement, or an implied wedding! I do NOT need a wedding in every book! If it’s a stand-a-lone, just knowing they’re going to be together is enough, though an epilogue a few years into the future is great!! If it’s a series, knowing they’re together, and that their story will continue in the next book, not as the main characters, but still popping in, is great, too!! Mandi Blake will “hint” at the next book in her series in her current book, and you know you’re going to see repeat characters from previous books, which is a lot of fun!! You get to “keep in touch” with them while “meeting” new characters! Elizabeth Maddrey does the same thing, and it’s so fun!!!!!
I agree, Trudy–a wedding in every book would be too much. I have always loved checking in with characters with whom I’ve fallen in love to see how their lives have evolved, and I write my series this way. Thanks for commenting!
I love it when a book ends as an HEA and it can just be that a family has been redeemed or a wedding or where there is just peace between people, it just depends on the story. I love it if a story ends with a couples engagement and then a series starts. I love to know what happens to a couple especially if they end up getting married. Have a great day.
“Peace between people” is a lovely thought, Alicia. You’re not alone wanting to know what happens to the characters whose story you’ve been invested in. Thanks for joining the conversation!
Betsy St. Amant’s Tacos for Two. It pits two unlikely opposites against each other but end up with a happy ever after. Thank you so much for sharing. God bless you.
I usually like happy endings where there is no cliffhanger.
I like the title, Debra. Sometimes the HEA is even sweeter when the couple has had to travel further to get there–as in the case of being unlikely opposites. Thanks for commenting and God bless you as well.
Me too, Diana. I recently reviewed a first book in a series and at the end, there was no resolution between the couple, and there was a definite cliffhanger. Didn’t give that one five stars! Thanks for stopping by.
I love a good happily ever after 🥰 my favorite is, in a series, when you get a proposal & then in the next book you have those characters pop in married, maybe even with a baby on the way. I l have recently discovered the “series epilogue” that takes place a few or many years after the last book ends & updates you on everyone’s HEA & I absolutely LOVED it.
It doesn’t have to end with a wedding necessarily, but they must at least declare their love for each other. It has to at least look like they have a future together for it to feel like a HEA.
Im late got busy doing nothing today. (well I watched some tv and cricket and napped) Its a public holiday here but forgot to come here earlier.
I do like a HEA if it fits the genre. I don’t expect it in a cozy mystery or a mystery series I do expect that good wins out.
but in a romance I do like some sort of HEA. I don’t like when it’s been angsts and struggles all the way and then they suddenly sort through all issues and sail of into the sunset so to speak. These books frustrate me. Its like I know with a few chapters to go they will make up and all will be right. I need it to be a real reason for them to be right.
I do like a epilogue with a wedding or a few years down the track but it depends on the story. If its only been a short time like a few weeks or just a month or two. I am happy with the hope they will have a future. and some had had the epilogue with the proposal. I know a relationship can move fast but to be engaged within weeks seems a little rushed to me especially if they hadn’t meet previously. But in books where it is natural for the proposal I like that.
Actually, this is most folk stories ending in Italy and maybe other European countries/ languages. When stories were told by the fire, centuries ago, maybe in the winter when people gathered to work together, they needed an ending formula, to be sure that there the story ends and the regular life and conversation starts.
In Armenia, the stories end (as the title of a contemporary Armenian novel explains) with „Three apples (or grenadines, in some other versions) fell from the sky: one for the one who saw, one for the one who told the story and one for the one who listened and believed it.”
In Romania, my country, the folk stories ended with: „And I rode in a saddle (or on a saddle? How is more correct in English?) and told you the story so.” (it also rhymes.)
As for the way to show a happy ending in a romance, I like the most (and I use often) the epilogue after years. But sometimes the story ends with the wedding, or with something else hinting at a happy ending.
I also do not write only romance. Especially my short stories, sometimes cannot have happy endings. Or some historicals have happy ending for some characters and not so happy for others…
You’re singing my song, Texas Momma! This is exactly the recipe I love as a reader, and how I write my series. Thanks for commenting!
I agree, Cherie. If anything falls short of this, it doesn’t qualify as an HEA for me. Thanks for joining the conversation!
These are great thoughts, Jenny. I agree, HEAs are best used in romance stories, not cozies or mysteries. I’m glad you joined the conversation.
These are fascinating tidbits of information, Marina. It’s fun to learn about how other cultures’ stories are constructed. Thank you for enlightening us!
I prefer not to have the wedding at the end, rather in the epilogue or next book in the series. Unless the author starts the story with the wedding and the drama is overcoming the obstacles that occur from the wedding preparations.
I’m ok with HEA or HFN or second chance with HEA
Thanks :)
Thanks for your thoughts, Dianne. Wedding preparations are fertile ground for drama for sure! I’ve seen plenty of weddings in epilogues or in the next book in the series, and it works for me as a reader.