Does love mean never having to say you're sorry? Not necessarily. Romance is often bittersweet, evoking regrets and even the occasional apology. It's also irrational, as the Book Babes' list of "10 Wonderful Romance Novels" demonstrates.
In reading and recommending these books, we take our cue from The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry: "It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
1. Skylight Confessions by Alice Hoffman (Little, Brown). At 17, Arlyn Singer walks into a mismatch of a marriage that she and her bridegroom, John, soon come to regret. True love turns up in the form of the window washer who tends to the Glass Slipper, the ironically named Connecticut residence where Arlyn and John share their less-than-fairy-tale marriage. Hoffman's brand of magical realism squeezes caring out of hard-to-reach places and ends up being a celebration of love.
2. Conjugal Love by Alberto Moravia (Other Press). In this newly reprinted 1949 novel of love and betrayal, Silvio Baldeschi, a member of the idle rich in 1930s Italy, goes to an isolated Tuscan villa with his sensual wife, Leda, to finish his novel. In the process, he's forced to admit that he has not only overestimated his writing talents but underestimated his wife's need for passion.
3. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen (Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill). Jacob Jankowski, the cranky resident of a retirement home, looks back on his years in the circus during the Depression and a love affair with Marlena, the offbeat star of the gritty circus and wife of the boss — a sadistic and unpredictable man.
4. Julie and Romeo Get Lucky by Jeanne Ray (Harmony). First-time novelist Ray — mother of novelist Ann Patchett — spins a delightful story about the complications that ensue when Romeo Cacciamani and Julie Roseman fall in love at age 63. In this Shakespeare-inspired tale, published in paperback this year, the lovers are from feuding families who own the only floral shops in Somerville, Massachusetts.
5. A Little Love Story by Roland Merullo (Vintage). Fans of Love Story, Erich Segal's tearjerker about the rich boy/poor girl relationship severed by death, won't want to miss this one. An accidental meeting leads to love between painter Jake Entwhistle and public relations assistant Janet Rossi, and to Jake's crusade to save her from dying of cystic fibrosis.
6. Stardust by Neil Gaiman (HarperCollins). In this reissued young-adult magical fantasy, Tristran Thorn searches for a fallen star so he can win the love of Victoria, the prettiest girl in town. Along the way, he encounters witches and unicorns and learns valuable lessons about love in the land of Faerie.
7. On Agate Hill by Lee Smith (Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill). Gone With the Wind fans will want to get their parasols and hankies ready. Told indirectly through letters, diary entries, and court documents, the tale recounts the life of Molly Petree, a young southern woman who must pick up the pieces after the Civil War. Her father's friend becomes her benefactor and fills an important and mysterious role in her life.
8. The Annotated Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen; annotated, edited, and introduced by David M. Shapard (Anchor Books). True, it's a bit of a stretch to call Pride and Prejudice "new." But Shapard, who has a Ph.D. in European history from Berkeley, offers more than 2,300 annotations alongside the text of the novel Jane Austen called "my own darling child" and that has long been one of her most popular. By providing definitions for hundreds of archaic words, fleshing out the historical context for Austen's characters, and offering a chronology of events, Shapard acts as a fascinating guide to this classic novel about love among the English landed gentry.
9. Dear John by Nicholas Sparks (Warner Books). The bestselling author of The Notebook and other books that pierce your heart is back with a bittersweet story, set in 2000, about opposites who attract but can't quite get their timing right. John Tyree is the young guy with the blue-collar background; Savannah Lynn Curtis is the University of North Carolina student with money. But somehow the tale remains a testimony to love.
10. Love Walked In by Marisa de los Santos (Plume). When Martin Grace, whose name "shares all but three letters with 'Cary Grant,'" walks into Cornelia Brown's Philadelphia café, the 31-year-old romantic-movie buff thinks she has found true love. But Brown has yet to meet Clare, Martin's 11-year-old daughter. A child of divorce who lives with her unstable mother, Clare teaches Cornelia about real love. Poet Marisa de los Santos' touching debut novel is slated to become a movie starring Sarah Jessica Parker.
Posted by Mags
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