Page 28 - Seniorstoday February 2024 Issue

Books
Top 10 Romantic Books
When it comes to romantic story books, the classics endure for a reason,
writes Deepa Gahlot
Several generations of women (and secretly,
men) grew up on candy-sweet Mills & Boon,
Barbara Cartland, Georgette Heyer--mushy
love stories, Regency romances, bodice-
rippers and a whole lot of subgenres of
the broad themes of love. With modern
times and changing attitudes, the M&B’s
become more risqué and then with the Fifty
Shades trilogy, all bets were off. Still, the
classics endure for a reason.
A pick of 10 readable love stories, some old,
some new:
Pride and Prejudice (1813):
This evergreen novel by
Jane Austen has a zinger
of an opening line: “It
is a truth universally
acknowledged, that a single
man in possession of a
good fortune, must be in
want of a wife.” Published
in the 19th century, it is still remarkably
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modern—which is the mark of a
classic—even though the terribly sexist
primogeniture laws have changed. It is
considered one of the greatest romantic
novels of all time, and the outspoken
heroine, Elizabeth Bennet, is a favourite.
Her on-off, love-hate relationship with the
uptight Mr Darcy, is what gives the novel
its edge. Even at a time when an unmarried
woman had no future, for Elizabeth, her
self-respect and love was more important
than a match of convenience. The appeal
of the story is such that every few years,
there’s a movie or series coming out, based
on it. Her other books make the cut too, but
this one is representative of her style.
Wuthering Heights (1847):
There are doomed romances and then
there’s the doomed-est of them all, the
only novel by Emily Brontë. It charts the
tempestuous love story of Catherine and