Romantic Novels for the Romantic Season | January 2021

 

As it isn't going to be quite the same as your typical Valentines Day or Galentines (whatever you celebrate) this year...there is always time to pick up a romantic book of your choice! These are my choices of romantic novel, even to deflect from the doom and gloom of the outside world...

In the Midst of Winter by Isabel Allende

Now I don't specifically enjoy romantic novels, I find them predictable and extremely cringy at times. But maybe in these times there is some room for the cliches. The first novel I would recommend is Isabel Allende's New York Times Bestseller: 'In the Midst of Winter'. This centres around a snowstorm in New York, and two aging lonely neighbours. It focuses on the multi generational struggle around immigration and as always with Allende she focuses on Central America's social and political issues and how they intertwine with the individual lives of her characters. Richard Bowmaster is a University professor, and lives alone since the death of his wife. During a snow storm, he is out driving around the streets when he hits a car with an undocumented driver aboard: Evelyn Ortega. In this car, there seems to be a dead body, an unidentified body. The story of Evelyn and her life looking after the disabled child of a rich family shows her exploitation and female struggle in all cases of society. Richard is the neighbour of Lucia Maraz, who also lives alone since she moved to New York alone and works within the same University as Richard. As both Lucia and Richard pity Evelyn's situation, they come together to help her and try to conceal the body in the snow covered area of the East Coast of America. The romantic element of the story comes as Richard and Lucia get closer and closer during the process. The novel explores the themes of loneliness, the importance of companionship and human interaction, especially when you are getting older. 

Brooklyn by Colm Toibin

The next novel is Colm Toibin's 'Brooklyn'. This novel has been adapted to a successful film starring Saoirse Ronan, and involves the migration of a young Irish girl, Eilish to Brooklyn. She deals the homesickness, loneliness, alienation, culture shock and grief through the sudden death of her older sister. The Irish connections in Brooklyn allow her to make distant acquaintances with the girls she lives in, and her job in a department store allows her flourish and become a confident citizen of America. Pardon the cliche of the Italian hating the Irish, but paradoxically she meets an Irish boy, Tony. They inevitably fall in love, they are completely devoted to one another. However, after the death of her sister she must go back to Ireland to console her mother. They get married before she leaves, in secret, telling no one. This secret would heighten when she arrived home, in the small town that secrets never were kept secret, and rumours flood the streets. 

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

The only extremely romantic novel on this recommendation is Me Before You by Jojo Moyes. This also has been adapted into a film starring Sam Claflin and Emilia Clarke. It follows the life of Louisa, who is struggling to find work in the small town she lives. Her family is struggling with bills, as her Dad has lost his job. On a whim, she applies for the job of full-time carer at the family that lives near castle that lies above the town: quite possibly the richest family in the area. The caring position is for Will, who was paralysed and lives permanently in a motorized wheelchair. He once lives the high life in London, with a beautiful girlfriend and powerful friends; now they didn't seem to bother with him. He was now locked away again living with his Mother and Father, like he was a child. He comes across as obnoxious and rude. Whilst Louisa is a loud-mouthed, eccentric young woman trying to make everyone in her world happy. Despite the awkward and appalling interview she has with Will's mother, she somehow gets the job. Together, she breaks the exterior of Will's demeanor, he becomes happier and admiring to Louisa's jovial attitude toward life. The darker side of the novel is the psychological effects that Will's condition has upon him, which will in turn effect the family's dynamic and his relationship with Louisa eternally.

All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

The last novel I would recommend isn't quite packed with romantic themes and narrative. 'All The Light We Cannot See' by Anthony Doerr is a World War II fiction. It centres on the narrative of a blind French girl, Marie-Laure and a German soldier, Werner who eventually cross paths in the conflict. They are both connected through radio broadcasts, which were forbidden when the Nazi's invaded France. People hid their radios, but Werner was a scientific whizz and acquired the skill of repairing radios. Deep in to the war, where he becomes a soldier he becomes trapped under rubble. He is only kept alive by Marie-Laure's radio broadcasts. It discovers the interaction through language and words through its spoken form, and the loneliness and fate of wartime Europe in the 1940s. Marie-Laure and Werner's connection through music and language becomes a love story in itself, whilst exploring the reality of war and the hardships they both entail. 

Happy Reading! 

Rose.