The Lilly Library welcomed readers to talk with romance author Beverly Jenkins on Thursday night at its “Unsung Romance: A Conversation with Beverly Jenkins” event.
The event consisted of three parts: a pop-up exhibition centered around Jenkins 2022 book “To Catch a Raven,” a Q&A with Jenkins and a book signing after the talk. Spread out through the Lilly Library, attendees of the event were able to explore the entire “Love in the Library” collection as well.
The pop-up exhibition offered guests the opportunity to see what the Lilly Library has to offer. Not only was Jenkins' work on display, but several of the library's rare books and artifacts surrounding Black history were displayed as well. Rebecca Baumann, the Lilly Library’s curator of modern books, helped choose a lot of what was featured at this event. Everything from a copy of the Declaration of Independence, a piece of history featured in “To Catch a Raven,” to a first edition of Sojourner Truth's autobiography added to the overall experience.
“We just kind of wanted to get some stuff out from our collections that show how much great history we have,” Baumann said. “It also kind of helps us think about how these amazing historical romances are written and all of the resources that go into them.”
“To Catch a Raven” is just one of Jenkins’ many works. The author has over 50 novels, short stories and novellas in her repertoire, including both historical and contemporary romance novels. This expansive collection of work has allowed Jenkins to gain the attention of many fans of the romance genre, including Bloomington resident Raquel Draughan.
Draughan has been a fan of Jenkins’ books since reading “Indigo” with her book club. One thing she loves about Jenkins’ novels is the interconnected plot lines seen in some of her books.
“I’ve read most of them,” Draughan said. “What they do is they bring the 1885 people into modern day lineage by their generation. So, you'll have those people, and then for the 20th century, she'll have people that are related to the ones from the past.”
Jenkins’ “The Blessings Series” features 12 books, the last one will be out in Aug., that take place in the small town of Henry Adams, Kansas, which serves as the main setting for one of Jenkins first books, “Night Song.” Though the two take place in different time periods — “Night Song” is set in the 1880s while books in “The Blessings Series” are all contemporary — the shared town and history tie the books together.
One of the biggest elements in any of Jenkins’ books is her historical research. In her Q&A, Jenkins discussed how her books typically include bibliographies of historical references and research that she uses when writing her novels to provide some real-life context for her readers.
Whether the details she uses in her stories are big or small, Readers at her Lilly Library event said that this literary element of having her novels deeply rooted in real history makes her novels more personal as well as adding on an intriguing layer to what goes into writing a romance novel. This process is something that interested Nyssa Kruse, a Bloomington resident who is part of Morgenstern Books' Romance Book Club.
“She's hilarious and so smart,” Kruse said of Jenkins. “It's just so fascinating to hear about her process. How she is reading historical documents or whatever, and then she sees a little detail and she pulls it out and makes a whole book.”
Members of Morgenstern’s Romance Book Club have attended events at the Lilly Library since the opening of the “Love in the Library” exhibit in August 2024. With rare books spanning across several decades, Lilly Library is able to create an intricate and detailed picture of the history of romance novels. “Unsung Romance: A Conversation with Beverly Jenkins” shined a light on the diverse and often unknown elements of the genre and created a space where readers could discuss and learn more about romance.
“When I found out that they were bringing Miss Bev, I was like ‘Oh my gosh,’” Kruse said. “It’s just a really, really unique opportunity. And it’s cool, because we live in a town where I didn't have to go anywhere to do this.”
It was readers like Kruse and others that attended the event that Jenkins repeatedly expressed her gratitude to during her Q&A. Throughout her career, Jenkins said her fans have been a big part of what kept her writing. She’s developed a close connection with them through her newsletters, several Facebook pages dedicated to her work and her Bluesky account.
“I have nothing without my readers,” Jenkins said. “They held my hand when I lost my husband in ‘03. I knew I could, regardless of what kind of day I had, I could log on. This is when we were a Yahoo Group, and they would keep me propped up to prayer and sometimes silly stuff.”
Jenkins was also grateful to the Lilly Library for including all kinds of viewpoints in their collections and creating a space for the “Unsung Romance” exhibit to take place. As a former librarian and longtime writer in the romance genre, Jenkins said she’s seen the same books, each with a similar cast of characters, circulate through popularity. The “Love in the Library” exhibition includes a wide array of novels from diverse authors. It’s this push to showcase a variety of voices that Jenkins thinks is important for a library like the Lilly Library to do.
“I think it's important that in order for you to teach the times and the classics and what was happening in the 19th century, you need to include everybody,” Jenkins said. “You know, we've had 200 years of affirmative action for white guys. It's time to, and it's been time to, open the table and let all these other voices have a turn. Not at taking over the table, but just to tell their stories.”
Editor’s Note: Nyssa Kruse is a former IDS reporter.
