This Time Next Year

Romance novels and films typically feature a love story between characters that culminates in a happy, optimistic ending. These stories feature tropes, or recurring plot elements, that advance character relationships and the overall narrative while signaling to readers that romantic chemistry is developing. One characteristic romance trope is the enemies-to-lovers trope, where two characters begin in an antagonistic relationship and fall in love as the narrative progresses. Another common romance trope is the idea of soulmates, or characters who are fated to be together. Sophie Cousens’s use of these tropes—as well as the narrative’s frequent references and allusions to classic romantic films—solidifies the novel’s place in the romance genre.

In This Time Next Year, Cousens presents an alternative, one-sided version of the enemies-to-lovers trope: Minnie has a long-standing rivalry with Quinn due to the circumstances of their births, but Quinn initially holds no animosity toward her. Minnie associates Quinn entirely with the story she grew up with: Quinn is “the boy who’d stolen her name, and with it, her good fortune” (27). Minnie is harsh with Quinn, calling him a “rich kid mummy’s boy who has no idea what the real world looks like” (126). Quinn is deeply hurt by this criticism, and its falsity is revealed during a flashback to Quinn’s 11th birthday and Tara’s mental health crisis. Minnie herself changes her mind, realizing over time that Quinn is thoughtful and sensitive and has faced his difficulties in life.

Cousens also draws on the trope of soulmates to add depth to Quinn and Minnie’s relationship. Quinn is drawn to Minnie without knowing who she is, especially when they kiss as teenagers. Minnie herself references the idea of destiny or alternate universes, comparing meeting Tara to a “Sliding Doors moment” (87). This 1998 romantic drama starring Gwyneth Paltrow shows a series of alternate futures for its main character depending on whether she catches a train on London’s Underground. Cousens alludes to Sliding Doors again when Quinn and Minnie part after their swimming date as their eyes remain “locked onto each other until the train pull[s] out of view” (247).

Further references and allusions to classic romantic comedies and dramas heighten the novel’s exploration of soulmates and destiny. At the end of the novel, Minnie references Sleepless in Seattle (a romantic comedy starring Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks) to convince a taxi driver to help her meet Quinn’s boat in time. She also compares herself to a Meg Ryan character when she debates whether to answer Quinn’s apology letter. You’ve Got Mail (1998), also starring Ryan opposite Hanks, features the two leads meeting online and falling in love only to realize they are rivals in real life. Quinn’s chance encounter with Minnie in an internet chat room for Star Wars fans is an allusion to this film. The 1989 romantic comedy classic When Harry Met Sally is another of the novel’s allusions, as the central characters meet in their youth with animosity, eventually becoming close friends and later realizing they are in love. Harry and Sally finally reunite on New Year’s Eve, confessing their feelings.

The consistent references and allusions to popular romantic films ground the novel in the romance genre even when Quinn and Minnie’s romantic relationship seems impossible. Minnie consistently thinks of Quinn in these allusions and of herself as a potential heroine. Quinn often thinks of Minnie in fairytale terms; he reflects that she is “a swan in a pond full of geese” (285), casting her as a beautiful woman underappreciated by the world around her. Minnie’s gradual embrace of New Year’s Eve’s romantic potential showcases both characters’ growth while drawing on romantic tropes. Quinn is ready to accept Minnie’s less exuberant attitude toward the holiday only to discover that she has gone to find him to prove her devotion. Through romantic film allusions and classic romance tropes, This Time Next Year explores the themes of love, destiny, and personal growth while remaining self-aware of its use of standard romance tropes and clichés.