Love is not always about the chance meetings and ‘happily ever afters’ – but those beautiful moments when you realize that there is someone you could always fall back on. And this Valentine’s Day, we have picked five books that paint a different shade of love, but romantic nonetheless.
No, we are not saying you cuddle up with these books on the all too special V-Day. But you can flip through these books, or order as a gift as you wait for the love of your life to turn up. Taking you back to those dusty library shelves where couples played peek-a-boo in the pretext of picking books and held arms while reading romantic novels.
The famous five are
Love Story by Erich Segal
Oliver was the rich, swanky kid and Jennifer, the quick-witted girl from the poor neighborhood, and they unite in love, yet again proving that theory opposites attract. Their romantic tale is breezy and fun - the type of love that never goes out of fashion. Erich Segal brings you the love life that could be the dream of every couple but for the tragic end.
Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez
Master storyteller Gabriel García Márquez gave us the iconic ‘Love in the Time of Cholera’. The next course of love would not always have you walking down the aisle and one may have to take a different path for the sake of surviving in this cruel world. But if your love is true, it may return to you in the golden aged years. (Probably, some of you may have a tale to say about the love in the time of demonetization).
Premalekhanam by Basheer
No human emotion is beyond the pen of Vaikom Muhammad Basheer. Love too takes a different shade when penned by the Sultan of Beypore – a vivacious splash of romance even when the rest of the world is all grey. Keshavan Nair is hopelessly in love with his house owner’s daughter Saramma, and the spade in this love story is religion. Basheer’s brilliant narration would have you smiling from ear to ear as Keshavan Nair and Saramma battle it out to keep their (to be) children out of religion and picks ‘Akashmithayi’ as the child’s name.
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
You are next to the love of your life in a dreamy home set in nature’s paradise. That is dream come true for many, but not for the protagonist of this novel as her husband’s former wife is an undying presence between them. Daphne Du Maurier mixes the love potion with a lip-smacking murder mystery and you get an unputdownable book.
5. And your favorite book is…
Five is the number that rules the Internet and we know we promised you five books. But it is next to impossible to pick a number five from the millions of books that fill the romantic section in any library. So for the fifth book you can pick from these – William Shakespeare’s iconic ‘Romeo and Juliet’, Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Thakazhi’s ‘Chemmeen’, Richard Bach’s ‘Bridge Across Forever’ or even the ‘50 shades by Grey’ E. L. James (no, we did not censor out this one). Or better still, pen down your own love story.
Happy Valentine’s Day, dear all – spread love!