Elina Valovirta’s chapter enlightens the human relationship with the corals in Caribbean romance novels. Corals and coral reefs are frequently mentioned in many popular romances taking place in the Caribbean; some are more explicitly linked with corals and marine life, while others barely mention corals despite taking place in a seaside environment, making coral reefs visible by their absence. Valovirta’s analysis mines the use of corals and marine life in popular romance fiction that is booming on the electronic literary market. She argues for their importance not only for the biodiversity of marine life in the Caribbean but also for a seemingly apolitical genre of popular literature. Putting corals and their loss into conversation with environmentalist concerns helps envision sustainability in connection with “the creative economy of literature”. (10-11)
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The primary sources are:
Black, Shelby. His to Own. The Billionaire’s Captive – A Virgin Islands Romance. Self-published Kindle ebook, 2021. McMillan, Terry. How Stella Got Her Groove Back. Berkeley: Random House, 1996. Morano, Leigh. Caribbean Romance. Self-published Kindle ebook, 2012. Roberts, Nora. The Reef. New York: Jove Books, 1998.
From the introduction to the volume:
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The primary sources are: