Reading to Escape into Society

For a couple of decades now, I have noticed a sub-genre of "Amish romances" becoming very popular.  This puzzled me, as I don't read any of this genre at all, and this sub genre seemed to be quite the opposite of what made the rest of the genre popular. But I myself love to read Victorian fiction, such as Anthony Trollope, and it occurred to me the other day that perhaps what readers of Victorian fiction and Amish romances are enjoying is--the setting of the story in a structure of society. There was a structure of social and cultural interactions present in the past, and a different kind, but one that still exists in flourishing Amish communities. That is something we no longer have where I live in the midSouth of the USA.

When studying psychology, I remember reading that in the early 1980's Americans were surveyed with an inquiry as to how many close friends they would say they had. At that time, the average answer was "three close friends." But in the early 2000s, that same question was asked and then the average Americans answer was one at best. Perhaps many of us are reading to escape into a time or place when there were strong neighborhoods, social norms and social graces, and...just plain friends.

This made me very melancholy, but Permaculture is another solution to this, if it is "wielded" enthusiastically!

I know I do. I like books where I feel like I'm part of someplace that I'm acceptable and wanted.

An interesting thought, what if books of permaculture fantasy fiction were written? We have authors here.
That concept probably explains a lot of people's addiction to permie youtube channels, they are your friend, they might understand you.

I know in my real life there are few who I'd call a close friend, but in my books there are a lot  of friends :)

Two of my favorite series take me to worlds where I would fit in...
Robert Heinlein's "Lazarus Long" books
Lazarus Long

And Spider Robinson's Callahan's Crosstime Saloon series
Callahan's Crosstime Saloon

I'd do better there than with Amish. I tend to not like rules.

As a published writer I know I write what I love, and from that readers follow. What do I mean by that?

I grew up in a foster home and quite unloved, and my marital life has never ended well. So my stories have the ending I never got: the kids are adopted, and the couple get married. It is not quite that simple, but after spending 3 months writing a novel, I got a lot invested in the book.

I guess what I am saying is: a lot of times… deep down it is not about the reader but subconsciously about the writer.

It could be that way here, the writers want a throw-back to times of old. Or maybe they are just intrigued by the lifestyle?