Maybe in Another Life

Maybe in Another Life is a prime example of the modern romance genre. As a novel that firmly adheres to the conventions of romance, the narrative is constructed with fans of the genre in mind. As an exemplar of this category of literature, the novel utilizes common and easily recognizable genre tropes; these include storylines that pertain to childhood sweethearts, second-chance love, forbidden love, surprise pregnancies, and will-they-or-won’t-they dynamics.

Notably, the novel features several romance plotlines, three of which involve its central protagonist, Hannah. Though the novel’s structure is unique in that it features alternating chapters through which two disparate plotlines develop, the utilization of certain aspects of the romance genre remain conventional. As in other novels in which romance is at the heart of the plot, Hannah must contend with multiple suitors. These suitors come in the form of Ethan, Hannah’s high school sweetheart and first love, Henry, her night nurse, and Michael, a married man with children in New York who stops seeing her once his wife discovers their affair.

Through the storyline that focuses on Hannah’s growing relationship with Ethan, the novel utilizes the childhood sweethearts