Five best love stories of all time!

Within the literary community, romance books gain a reputation of lacking emotional depth or being low quality. Great literature is often defined by its social critiques, and romantic love has always been seen as a frivolous matter, so a book dedicated to the ups and downs of a relationship isn't taken as seriously.

 While some romance books are very formulaic and often fail to stand on their own without a trope, the issue isn't the idea of romance itself, rather something much broader I’ll write about in another post.

I have always defined my reality as it relates to others. I think the way we love is a reflection of the way we are. So to me, romance really is that deep.

 As the great Sally Rooney said, “I’m not so interested in feelings that people go through on their own. So, I think that maybe that’s why desire and love interest me so much.”

So, in no particular order, here are my top five romance novels... 

Normal People by Sally Rooney

“Really, she thinks, really. People can change one another.”

Speaking of Sally Rooney, her book “Normal People” is one of my favorites of all time. I’ve read and reread it beyond a quantifiable amount. Sometimes I will pick it up, flip to a random page, and start reading just to feel alive. It brought back my spark for writing, and helped me through a dark time, and so much more.

This book does a beautiful job depicting the gravity our relationships hold in our lives. Marriance and Connell, the book's protagonists, begin their relationship in high school, and stay in touch on and off through university and into their adult lives. They are always drawn back to each other, because they feel seen by each other, but external pressures keep them from ever finding their footing.

On top of being a romantic writer, Rooney is also very political. The couple in the novel first meet because Connell’s mother cleans Marriane’s home. The socioeconomic difference is prevalent throughout the novel, especially because it seems to threaten Connell’s masculinity. 

Marriane also experiences a lot of trauma at the hands of men in the novel, and has a warped perspective of her worth as a woman. I think the book does a really great job at portraying the way gendered social norms dictate our relationship, and what happens when those are out of balance. 

It’s not a very fast paced novel, like most romances are, but I think the intensely intimate writing makes up for it. Just writing this makes me want to reread it!

Pride and Prejudice 

“I could easily forgive his pride if he had not mortified mine.”

I could not talk about literary acclaimed romance novels without including “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen. 

It feels silly summarizing such a popular book, but for those who haven’t read it, “Pride and Prejudice” takes place in Regency Era England, following Elizabeth Bennett, second oldest of five daughters to a country gentlemen, and Mr. Darcy, a rich landowner, as they have to put aside— you guessed it— their pride and prejudice as they fall for each other.

For the time period it was written, this novel was very progressive. What I like most about the book is that it challenges a woman's place in the relationship. 

Elizabeth, the main character, is often told she is too opinionated to fall in love, because at the time being, a wife was inherently another one of a man’s assets. 

Mr. Darcy, as it turns out, doesn’t dislike Elizabeth in the beginning because she isn’t feminine enough, but actually just because she is poor— which is a whole other problem. However, he has to get over his poor-person-prejudice because he falls in love with Elizabeth’s wit and spirit, the very same traits that made her “impossible to wed”.

Because the writing style is a bit older, some readers might have a hard time getting into it, but I think that Austen was one of the funniest writers of her time. The whole book is very tongue and cheek, you just have to be paying attention.

The Summer I Turned Pretty

"For Belly, Conrad is the sun. and when the sun comes out, the stars disappear."

"The Summer I Turned Pretty" by Jenny Han is a book that, at first glance, felt very childish to me. However, as I've become more engulfed with the series, through watching its TV adaptation and even visiting its filming locations, I've realized that its childishness, is completely the point.

This series follows a very young Isabel Conklin, nicknamed "Belly", whose family spends each

summer at a beach house in Cousins, Massachusetts, with her mother's best friend, Susannah, and her two sons near Belly's age, Conrad and Jeremiah, who Belly inevitably has a love triangle with.

While I think the romance is the novel is dynamic and touching, what I loved most is Belly's relationship with her mother, as well as Susannah, who dies of cancer early in the series.

Susannah's death turns what felt like a very simple love triangle into something more meaningful, as family becomes more important than romance, and the trio needs each other more than ever.

Jenny Han does a great job at writing her characters down to the smallest detail, which is not just fun as a reader, but it provides a great opportunity to show how well the characters know each other.

It's a really cute series that highlights the importance of love in its various forms.

Gone Girl

“Unconditional love is an undisciplined love and, as we all have seen, undisciplined love is disastrous.”

I debated whether or not to include “Gone Girl” by Gillian Flynn on this list, because it feels like an anti-romance book, but at its core, the book analyzes an albeit broken marriage. 

Because of holy matrimony, I am placing this book on my list.

“Gone Girl” crime thriller that follows Nick Dunne after the disappearance, and supposed murder, of his wife Amy Dunne. Although Nick is the narrator as the mystery unfolds, he seems to be an unreliable one, as his wife’s journal entries depict him in a much darker light.

The entanglement of these two different perspectives leave the reader questioning who to trust, which is completely uprooted half way through the novel with a twist that had my jaw on the floor.

In good conscience, I cannot reveal what happened, but I will say that by the end of the novel, both characters are shown through a more realistic, uglier lens.

Their relationship, though not close to the idealistic dynamics usually seen in love stories, is a real, raw, and intimate one. The book explores the fine line between loving and hating in a way that left me in shock for days. 

The Wall of Winnipeg and Me

“Home is where you are. I would go anywhere for you if you wanted me there.”

I couldn’t get away with writing a list of my favorite romance novels without sneaking in a guilty pleasure, and “The Wall of Winnipeg and Me” by Mariana Zapata is just that. 

This book is all about the fake marriage between professional football player Aidan Graves and his ex assistant, Vanessa Mazur. Aidan, a Canadian immigrant with an expiring green card, must get married in order to keep playing football, and who else would he marry other than the girl who knows his routine the most, but also kind of hates him?

Would I consider this great literature? No. Is this book original? No. Could I put the book down? Also no.

While I think tropes tend to take the spark out of literature, the tropes in this book are kind of my weakness.

I’ve always loved a marriage of convenience books— I find it endearing when characters are committed to each other first, and gain romantic attraction second. It creates a situation where the characters care about one another in a deep way while they get to know each other. 

And you know what? This book does it really well. 

Zapata does a great job at writing the slowest burn of all time, while packing it with tension the whole way through. And while it does feel very cliche, there is not a moment where it becomes unenjoyable, and as I’ve said before, books are meant to be enjoyed.

Conclusion

On my list I have a psychological thriller, a summer love triangle, a heartbreaking take on relationality, a literary classic, and a tropey slow burn, making it difficult to call romance one note.

Because love bleeds into so many facets of our lives, it naturally ends up in just as many literary spaces. Romance books have many different purposes, depending on the reader. What is your favorite kind of love story?