54 pages • 1 hour read
Expiration Dates
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Background
Genre Context: Romance and Magical Realism
Expiration Dates fits within a long tradition of romance fiction. Romance as a genre does not simply mean that the plot includes a love story. Rather, romance has specific genre tropes and requirements. Romance fiction typically must include a happy ending, which is usually labeled in one of two ways: either a “happily ever after,” which implies that the two main characters will end the story together and remain together far past the end of the novel, or a “happy for now,” in which the two main characters end the story in a committed romantic relationship for the moment, implying no marriage but a long-term monogamous relationship in which the two characters may eventually split.
Though some contemporary writers attempt to subvert the happy ending requirement, most romance readers do not consider a “romantic story” with a tragic ending to be a romance novel. Expiration Dates skirts the edges of the trope while ending on a hopeful note that implies a “happily ever after.” The romance genre often includes other recognizable tropes, such as “enemies to lovers,” “friends to lovers,” “second chance,” “love at first sight,” “love triangle,” and many others. Expiration Dates includes two common tropes: the “friends to lovers” trope, in which best friends slowly realize that they have feelings of romantic love, and “second chance,” in which two characters who dated previously come back together after time apart.
Expiration Dates also includes elements of magical realism, a subgenre of fantasy in which a contemporary, real-world setting contains magical or fantastical elements that resist explanation in the narrative. In magical realism, the strange or supernatural elements of the story highlight the inexplicable of the everyday world and are usually not questioned by the characters within the story. While magical realism is most often associated with Latin American literature, it is common in romance and literary fiction more broadly.
Geographical Context: Los Angeles
Expiration Dates is set in Los Angeles, California, which author Rebecca Serle depicts in intricate detail. The descriptions of Los Angeles lend the narrative a sense of grounded reality, in contrast with the more fantastical elements, while also heightening the romanticism. As Daphne asserts, the Los Angeles that exists in many people’s imaginations—fueled by media portrayals—is not an accurate representation of the city. While many imagine either the romanticized, glamorous vision of Hollywood or the gritty, crime-riddled city portrayed in many crime dramas and cop shows, the reality of Los Angeles is much larger and more complex.
Los Angeles is the most populous city in California and the second most populous in the country after New York City. It is bordered by the San Gabriel Mountains to the north, the Santa Monica Mountains to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Though Hollywood is the most famous and recognizable section of Los Angeles, it is a small area and not representative of the whole city. Los Angeles includes very few high-rise and skyscraper buildings, except for downtown and a few regions of central Los Angeles. It is a city with an enormous economic divide, comprising both the ultra-rich and large working-class population. It is also a highly diverse city, with large Latino and Asian populations. Expiration Dates focuses on the upper-middle-class areas of central Los Angeles, downtown, and West Hollywood, which are known for their eclecticism, quirky restaurants, and arts renewal.
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By Rebecca Serle
