Newer Novels Are Less Demure, For Sure

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I’ve previously covered this topic here and there, but I wanted to return to some of the ways modern novels differ from older ones.

Several examples of this are cropping up as I read The Hallmarked Man (2025) — J.K. Rowling’s eighth excellent book, under her Robert Galbraith alias, starring private investigators Cormoran Strike and Robin Ellacott.

This long (897 pages) crime novel includes mentions of lots of digital technology that was of course not an element of long-ago books. Strike, Ellacott, and their employees frequently text each other while on stakeouts, pore through social media to seek information about possible suspects and witnesses, explore “the dark web” for clues, etc.

Rowling’s series also features plenty of cursing — taboo in older novels — as well as somewhat explicit sex scenes and somewhat graphic depictions of violence one doesn’t see as much in long-ago literature. (Although Rowling’s work is more reserved than some recent fiction in those respects.)

And, unlike many older novels, The Hallmarked Man and Rowling’s earlier Strike/Ellacott books feature various characters of different ethnicities, various characters who are LGBTQ+, etc. – with all that diversity depicted, like it should be, as an unremarkable part of life.

(Rowling’s unfortunate personal views about transgender people are fortunately not reflected in any of her novels.)

Getting back to the tech thing, one of the first 21st-century authors to strongly incorporate the digital world was Stieg Larsson in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and its two sequels — with the Lisabeth Salander character’s computer expertise germane to the plot in Larsson’s 2005-2007 trilogy. There was also Stephen King’s 2006 novel Cell (referring to the phone not a prison space), though it was sadly one of that author’s lesser books.

Of course, early sci-fi writers such as Jules Verne and E.T.A. Hoffmann imagined approximations of stuff in our digital age, but this post’s focus is mostly on authors more current to our time.

Other recent or relatively recent books with many four-letter words and/or frank sexual situations and/or queasy violence? Kristin Hannah’s The Women (2024), Barbara Kingsolver’s Demon Copperhead (2022), Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl (2012), and Cormac McCarthy’s No Country for Old Men (2005), among many others. The cursing and violence in a war-set novel like The Women – which spotlights three American nurses dealing with horrific injury situations in Vietnam — is to be totally expected if the author wants to convey realism.

Other 21st-century books with all kinds of multiculturalism and diversity? Zadie Smith’s debut novel White Teeth (2000) and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Americanah (2013), to name just two.

As I alluded to earlier, there are always exceptions to the rule. For instance, some older novels, like Lady Chatterley’s Lover (1928) by D.H. Lawrence, contain fairly explicit sexual content — and some newer novels are written in the more prim way of decades or centuries ago. (This is also the case with formal and/or wordy prose.) And there are the rare older novels with diverse, non-stereotypical casts – Georges (1843) by Alexandre Dumas is one that comes to mind – while some newer novels have homogenous casts.

Your thoughts about, and examples of, this topic?

Misty the cat says: “Sheesh…I paid good money for a luxury automobile and get this?”

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…and a 2012 memoir that focuses on cartooning and more, including many encounters with celebrities.

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138 thoughts on “Newer Novels Are Less Demure, For Sure”

  1. As always, interesting point, Dave. I’d add Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell—its shifting voices and perspectives feel distinctly modern, while its storytelling also echoes much older literary traditions. Just a thought. 😃💕

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  2. I enjoyed your analysis, Dave, and the comparisons are so true and interesting. I’m not into novels that are too graphic either way, but I understand when realism is a factor. I’ve read a few books that you mention, but I haven’t read any of Rowling’s books under her other pen name. Maybe I should. 🙂 Thanks for sharing and have a good weekend!

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    • Thank you, Lauren! Definitely a different feel to modern novels vs. long-ago ones.

      Given that many people (myself included) don’t want to know TOO much about a book before we read it, sometimes the graphic nature of some novels sneaks up on us. Like you, I prefer some subtlety much of the time.

      Have a good weekend, too!

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  3. Interesting dealing with novels and updating the tech. All I can say about JK now is that she can really write long novels and I now found these a bit tedious. Mainly because U can’t put down a who dunnit! I just recently read/ listened to Horse and think this was a very important angle on Black American history and with modern age characters too.

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    • Thank you, navasolanature! I hear you about J.K. Rowling — her books are often rather long, meaning either things can drag a bit or one loses some sleep keeping up with the excitement. 🙂

      “Horse” by Geraldine Brooks? I enjoyed her “March” novel, which also had something to say about Black history.

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      • Yes, that’s the one – about ownership which really spoke to me in a new way about humans being your property as well as exploiting to the full talents as with both horses and humans. I will try March, she is a great writer for detail and engagement.

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  4. Hi Dave, a good topic today but not one I can contribute much to as I don’t read many book published after 1960 😂🤣. I am currently reading The Midnight Train which is not as good as The Midnight library. I’m finding it a bit dreary so my reading is slow. It doesn’t really have any diversity in it. I have read two books by Stevie Turner that both include sec changes and were good reads. One is Her lady ship and the other No Sex please, I’m menopausal.

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    • Thank you, Robbie! I guess some post-World War II/pre-1960 novels featured the beginnings of some modern themes (one that comes to mind is Herman Wouk’s “Marjorie Morningstar” from 1955). I used to read mostly older novels (as you do) but have lately gone for more recent ones…perhaps because after a number of years I read many of the older novels I wanted to read. 🙂

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  5. I certainly will Dave! And yes, books in ‘that pile’ is growing by the day!!😄

    So Dave, your lovely weekly posts are a part of this problem!! 😆 Too many good books out there!!

    I know exactly what you mean. A good book can cost you a night’s sleep! 😴

    🙂

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  6. A great topic and a fascinating discussion, Dave. I wonder if one of the great gifts of the novel is that it has always been a reflection of its time. Older writers were surrounded by technologies, social conventions, prejudices and restrictions that shaped what could be said and what had to remain between the lines. Consider Thomas Hardy and his book, Tess of the D’Ubervilles. He wrote about sexuality, sexual violence, pregnancy outside marriage, social hypocrisy, class and the terrible double standard applied to women. Yet because he was writing in the late nineteenth century, much of what happens to Tess could not be described with the explicitness we might encounter in a contemporary novel. He had to work within, and push against, the conventions of his time. Contemporary writers have a different world to record, from texting and social media to changing language and a much broader representation of human experience.

    But what I find most interesting is that human nature underneath all of this doesn’t seem to have changed very much. We still love, betray, envy, hope, fear, misunderstand and search for belonging. Perhaps that is why we can still recognize ourselves in novels written hundreds of years ago, even though the world surrounding the characters can seem so different from our own. And I suspect that readers a hundred years from now will look at today’s novels and discover things about us that we don’t even realize we are revealing. Wonderful food for thought, Dave! And Misty clearly has standards when it comes to luxury transportation.

    “The beauty or ugliness of a character lay not only in its achievements, but in its aims and impulses; its true history lay, not among things done, but among things willed.” Thomas Hardy, Tess of the D’Urbervilles

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    • Thank you, Rebecca! Loved your Thomas Hardy thoughts! He did push against the conventions of his time as much as possible, and did it in an expert way that made readers know what he was trying to say even though he couldn’t be explicit. Interesting to think what his novels would be like if he were born in 1940 rather than 1840. And, yes, though long-ago novels and modern novels differ in their frankness, social norms, etc., human emotions are recognizable in a book written during any time.

      Misty is currently online, browsing for Maseratis. 🙂

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  7. Great post, Dave. I enjoyed it and the comments. That’s the benefit of being late to the party, you get to read all the comments.

    I don’t have an example, but I can comment on the “being true to your time.” My books are set in 2014-2016, and I’ve had to check so many bits of technology to see when it was invented. Technology changes so fast, that I don’t always remember that something I use every day has only been available for 3-4 years.

    The other comment is on sex. I often read a scene and wonder why on earth it was included. I like to leave the details to the imagination of the reader.

    Thanks for sharing (and backing up) an interesting topic.

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  8. I liked what you said about trying to stay true to the time you’re writing in, and in some cases, that does involve language and violence. I try to balance it a bit as a writer, but there are times where it can’t be done away with. As with Kristin Hannah and the Women, and Demon Copperhead as well. I’m afraid I haven’t read any of the other mentions!

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  10. Hi Dave, an interesting topic, but I’m almost stumped this time. It seems I have neglected the 21st century novels about explicit sex and/or violent scenes and also digital tech stuff. Ah well, never mind. But the good news is I have read a few novels about the multi-cultural scene in the 21st century. Both The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini were excellent. And another two were these: Purple Hibiscus and Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, also really good. So not too bad then for me.

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  11. I hear that Dave! Newer novels are certainly less demure! A very well-observed topic!

    I know times have changed and maybe readers expectations have shifted, but there is something to be said for the power of subtlety! Thinking about it now, a novel that contains graphic or raunchy sex scenes for example, will probably sell better, than hints at the same thing!

    Dave, wasn’t ‘Lady Chatterley’s Lover’ banned at one point? That said, DH Lawrence is probably my favourite author, certainly of that era! 😊

    I’m yet to read any of the Robert Galbraith novels, but I am curious to try one.

    ‘Americanah’ is on my TBR pile, for sure!

    So many good books Dave! Thanks a million for bringing them to our attention.

    Thanks once again.

    Sharon 📚 🙂

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    • Thank you, Sharon! I agree that subtlety in a novel is welcome. Not always, but a lot of the time!

      “Lady Chatterley’s Lover” was indeed banned at one point. Times have definitely changed; compared to sex scenes in some of today’s novels, D.H. Lawrence’s book is relatively low-key in that respect.

      “Americanah” and Rowling’s crime novels are good reads!

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      • Hi Dave! Back again!

        Yes, subtlety done well can be even more powerful than overt sex scenes, I feel. But more graphic scenes handled well can move a novel along.

        Thanks for that Dave. I had a vague notion that ‘Lady Chatterley’s Lover’ was indeed banned. But as you quite rightly pointed out, it would be considered mild by modern standards!! Fiction really has changed!!

        ‘Americanah’ and the Rowling books do sound good. My only thoughts about JK Rowling is: does she really nail the crime books. I have read a load of crime novels over the years and have become very fussy with what I read in that genre.

        😊

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        • Welcome back, Sharon. 🙂

          Fiction and how fiction writers handle things have indeed changed a lot.

          I personally feel J.K. Rowling nails the crime genre, but other readers might differ. 🙂 Her books vary from other crime novels by being longer (though the earlier books were shorter than the later ones are). And she mixes in a little more relationship and family stuff than many other crime authors.

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          • Hi Dave!

            I really appreciate your feedback on the JK Rowling crime books! Maybe I will try the first one (will look it up) and see how it is! Can you compare her work to other crime authors?

            She is a great fan of lengthy tomes at a time when people are becoming more time-poor! 😀

            Thanks Dave!

            Sharon 😊

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            • You’re very welcome, Sharon! The first one is “The Cuckoo’s Calling.” Not sure I could compare Rowling to other crime authors; she feels kind of unique in that genre. Then again, there are many crime authors I haven’t read. 🙂

              I hear you about the length of Rowling’s books when many readers are pressed for time. She could definitely be a bit shorter; took me two weeks to finally finish “The Hallmarked Man.”

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              • ‘The Cuckoo’s Calling’, you have mentioned this book before. Thanks for that Dave, I’ll add it to my TBR pile!

                Two weeks to finish a book is good going! It takes me ages to finish a book especially if I’m not enjoying it much! 😬😃

                With gratitude.

                🙂

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                • TBR piles can become very high, and we can only get to some of the books in them. 🙂 But if you do read “The Cuckoo’s Calling,” Sharon, I’d be interested to hear what you think about it!

                  If I wasn’t enjoying “The Hallmarked Man” so much, it would have taken me longer than two weeks to finish it. I sacrificed some sleep along the way. 🙂

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  12. I’m faint of heart when it comes to injuries, violence, etc., so The Women is a book that I wouldn’t want to try! I have to say, I do like Lady Chatterley’s Lover and enjoy seeing if any movies can add nuance to what’s in the book. I think it’s cool that this story never gets old and people continue to find it inspiring/relatable.

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    • Thank you, Ada! Yes, very violent novels can be off-putting. Some are still quite readable, but others make one want to not finish them. I agree that “Lady Chatterley’s Lover” is a really good book; there’s a lot to it in addition to the erotic parts.

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  13. I’m a huge fan of all the Robert Galbraith mysteries, but I’m getting tired of putting up with two adults in their thirties who can’t communicate their feelings for each other after eight books, and God knows how many years of working together. This is one case where more sex–or at least romance–would be appreciated, at least by this devoted reader!

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    • Thank you, Kim! I totally hear you; that unresolved relationship has been going on a LONG time. I guess the excuse — and it’s not a bad one — is that they’re partners in a business and each one wonders what would happen to that business if either of them said no to romance.

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  15. Hello Dave,

    Okay… from my paltry pantry of very contemporary book reads, I will mention Jenny Cooper has a Secret.

    In Joy Fielding’s most recent book (not counting the recent rerelease of Puppet now titled A Mother’s Shadow) Jennie Cooper (80+) is in an old age home. A sweet old lady, but she kills people.

    This little old lady was a pharmacist, and knows how, and tells the heroine( 70+) how to kill without getting caught.

    I think major characters/heroes in their 70’s and 80’s is newer.

    As talking about/including LGBTQ community and/or prejudices is modern in plot lines or in general, so is ageism.

    Although the computer and internet are prevalent in secondary plot points of the story, they still play a large role… especially the use of porn sites. This ties in with a husband’s abuse of his wife.

    A great book!

    Hope this counts!

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  16. Interesting theme, Dave. I haven’t read any of the Rowling/Galbraith crime novels. It’s not surprising that modern novels differ in many ways from their older counterparts. After all, writers have to keep abreast with the world of their readers. I like when modern technology can add to the complexity of a story.

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    • Thank you, Rosaliene! Yes, inevitable that novels (well, most novels) have to change with the times. Reminds me of Daphne du Maurier, whose 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s novels had a lot of 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s vibes while her 1969 novel “The House on the Strand” had a “countercultural” feel to it. And digital technology is so pervasive these days than newer novels indeed have to deal with it unless those books are set in the past.

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  19. Hmm….another great topic, Dave. I think a dose of realism can be welcome, but I really zone out when there’s too much ‘tech talk or sex talk’, LOL. Same for persistent and overt themes of violence.

    I’ve been sour about Rowling and any of her work – under any name – and while it’s nice to hear the Robert Galbraith series is more inclusive, my head goes straight to whether it was reactionary/performative. I’m not knowledgeable enough to have an opinion so I don’t want to throw shade. I probably wouldn’t read “The Hallmarked Man” for other reasons — 897 pages, you say? 😜

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    • Thank you, Vicki! I agree — it’s usually good when certain elements of modern literature era are there, but most-often better as part of the mix rather than high up in the mix.

      As for J.K. Rowling, I’m super-impressed that she went from writing the wonderful “Harry Potter” books to a very absorbing crime series. Some of the Strike/Ellacott novels are indeed long, but they hold my interest — helped by the combination of ingenious crime scenarios and the repressed romantic attraction between the two private investigators who are business partners. And Rowling doesn’t overdo the sex and violence, and definitely keeps her transphobia out of her fiction.

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          • You’re encouraging me — to read and experience on my own. I really appreciate that, my friend. Harry Potter was an important part of fostering our daughter’s love of reading when the first book came out and she read it entirely on her own for the first time. Magic moments and memories, on so many levels. I need to give Rowling a second chance. 😉❤️😉

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            • My apologies, Vicki; I somehow missed seeing this comment of yours yesterday.

              Great to hear how much your daughter loved the “Harry Potter” books! That WAS a magical time for millennials and reading. My older (1989-born) daughter was also a huge “Potter” fan as the books came out starting in the late 1990s, and I would read each one after she finished. 🙂

              Rowling’s first crime novel was 2013’s “The Cuckoo’s Calling.” I was hooked by the time I finished the first page.

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  21. To be realistic, fiction must incorporate the technology of the time, but I’d rather it isn’t the main focus of the story, just to show that the author is “with it.” If the novel or story is intended to be tech-focussed science fiction, that’s different.

    It’s the same with sex scenes. If they are too explicit and frequent, the novel or story drifts into erotica territory, which may not be what readers expected.

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  22. Another great topic, Dave, and many thanks for it. I have to say that I don’t much care for no-holds-barred sex scenes in books, and tend to skip through them. I prefer the closed-door approach, and try to stick to it in my own writing (the exception, my debut novel, was about a girl who falls into an unhealthy relationship and a downward spiral, and wouldn’t have been convincing without a few ‘close encounters’; but I tried to keep them as tasteful as possible). That goes for stories which wouldn’t seem realistic without some gore and guts, like ‘The Women’ which you mention (although I haven’t read that) in which case I don’t mind. Technology is such a part of our lives now that it’s difficult to work without it, and I’ve used online trolling/researching/DNA profiling in my own work too. As to older stories, Huxley’s ‘Brave New World’ has very relaxed attitudes to sex, the characters positively encouraged to engage it it as a leisure pursuit – although it’s not a form of procreation. Going further back there’s John Cleland’s ‘Fanny Hill’, ‘Justine’ by the Marquis de Sade and ‘Venus in Furs’ by Sacher-Masoch; and coming back to the 20th century is ‘The Story of O’ by Pauline Reage. These latter four are incredibly explicit – I’m told so, anyway! 😂😂

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  23. I really appreciated your analysis, especially how you highlighted the contrast between J.K. Rowling’s personal views and the organic, natural diversity she infuses into the Strike series.

    Your reflection on technology and realism is also very interesting. In Italy, we’re witnessing exactly the same shift. Italian literature of the past was largely based on slow, lyrical prose and historical themes. Today, we’re also witnessing this modern evolution in literature.

    As for technology, the best Italian parallel to Lisbeth Salander is Mariolina Venezia’s “Fedele alla linea” (and the entire series by Imma Tataranni), or Donato Carrisi’s techno-thrillers (like The Whisperer), where digital traces and computer investigations are the main driving force of the plot.

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