Does Age Matter?
I noticed something as I was reading a romantic suspense
novel. The main character—the heroine—was fifteen years old. And I just couldn’t
get into the story. This was not a YA novel; it was definitely meant for an
adult audience. But the main character was not only young; she was completely
immature. Her reactions were that of a girl, not a woman, and I couldn’t put
myself in her shoes.
I think it’s important that the reader can identify with
someone in the book—either the male or female lead. They have to be able to
place themselves in their shoes, to feel what they’re feeling.
In The Tempest Murders,
Rian Kelly begins the story in Ireland at the age of 29. Flash forward to Ryan
O’Clery nearly two hundred years later, and he also is 29 years old.
Twenty-nine is the perfect age. It is young enough for both
the male and female to be fit, sportive and energetic. Yet they are old enough
to have been around the block, to think clearly and with maturity, and to know
the consequences of their actions.
In the Black Swamp
Mysteries series, the main characters—Dylan Maguire, Vicki Boyd, Brenda
Carnegie and Christopher Sandige—are all in their twenties. They have their
entire lives ahead of them, yet they are still young enough to be in peak
performance.
What age do you prefer the main characters in the books you
read?
