5 Love Stories You Should Read This Valentine
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So it’s Valentine’s Day again and love is in the air… or so we think. Love has always been in the air, felt by many, watched by some, and written about by few. These are 5 love stories you should definitely be reading this season:
1. The Notebook – Nicholas Sparks
This enchanting love story begins with an old couple in a nursing home, Noah and Ellie. Ellie has Alzheimer’s and cannot remember who Noah is. But Noah reads her a book. A story that is strikingly similar to theirs, when they are much younger. Only that it is indeed, theirs.
The author’s unusual flashback technique takes you to their youth, through painful separations caused by circumstances beyond their control, and how the (clichéd) theme of Love Conquers All always bring them back together.
It’s a splendid story you should read, sake of the peaceful vibes. You can get a hard copy or an e-book format here:
2. In Dependence – Sarah Ladipo-Manyika
From the title of this book, you feel this sense of wonder, something along the lines of… “In dependence of what? Does it have something to do with the independence era of Nigeria?” only for you to delve into the book and discover an exquisite story of love.
When Tayo Ajayi, a Nigerian student on a scholarship to study abroad, meets Vanessa Richardson, the beautiful daughter of an ex-colonial officer, it’s safe to say that the speed of the page-flipping on your end only gets faster.
This remarkable debut weaves love, history, and race across three continents and four decades set in uncertain political times. It distinguishes itself from the conventional love stories with weddings and Happily Ever After’s. Well, have a read yourself by getting it here.
READ ALSO: Colleen Hoover; Our Favourite Romance Author
3. The Thorn-Birds – Colleen McCoullough
If you’re a sucker for forbidden romance, then this unlikely love between a parishioner, Maggie and a priest, Ralph, is definitely for you. Not to spoil it tho, there’s no happy ending here because, sadly, not all stories have happy endings.
But it’s worth the read, trust me. Its readability comes next to none, and it has the most spine-tingling (butterfly-y, know that feeling, right?) moments in the history of literature. See for yourself by getting it here.
4. A Tailor-Made Romance – Oyindamola Affinnih
When Oluwatishe, a twenty-six year old advertising executive, meets with Adnan, a dashing, well-spoken gentleman, she is immediately smitten…until she discovers what he does for a living; tailoring.
Here’s where the questions of societal expectations of class clash with the intense feeling Tishe has for Adnan. How will she overcome this turbulent stage of her life? A Tailor-Made Romance reflects the realities of the modern African working-class society.
The characters are very real and relatable, plus, it’s pretty rare to find African books that are purely romance and without the clichés thrown in here and there. Find out more by getting it here.
5. Romeo and Juliet – William Shakespeare
Chances are, you probably weren’t expecting THIS to pop up on the list. Sorry to burst your bubble, but this tragedy of two “star-crossed” lovers will forever remain the archetypal love story.
A bit (too) tragic, Romeo and Juliet is the story of the eponymous characters who fall in love in a whirlwind frame of time, but fate (along with a background family feud) conspires to keep them apart.
It ends with Romeo poisoning himself under the mistaken belief of Juliet’s death, and when the latter wakes up to see her Romeo gone, she kills herself with a sword.
The only bright side to all these is that their families end up settling their long feud (obviously too late, by the way). Get the book here.
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