BOOKLISTS: Love in the Classical Style
Austen, Jane. NORTHANGER ABBEY. 1992
Catherine Morland, an avid reader of Gothic novels, imagines intrigues in the midst of ordinary life. Ironically, she also finds herself in very real danger. Henry Tilney, at first annoyed by Catherine's preoccupations, finds that he must rescue her and defy his father's wrath in order to bring about a suitably happy ending. First published in 1818. FICTION/AUSTEN
Bronte, Charlotte. JANE EYRE. 1997
Orphaned, and forced by her cruel aunt to make her own way in the world, Jane finds love and happiness as a governess in the home of the wealthy Edward Rochester. However, the master of Thornfield Hall hides an agonizing secret. First published in 1847. FICTION/BRONTE
Du Maurier, Daphne. REBECCA. 1938
The mysterious death of handsome socialite Maxim De Winter's beautiful first wife, Rebecca, haunts his household and his new, self-conscious bride. How many Mrs. De Winters can one Manderley hold? First published in 1938. FICTION/DUMAURIER
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. THE GREAT GATSBY. 1995
The narrator, Nick Carraway, is enamored with the extravagant lifestyle of his neighbor, Jay Gatsby, a war hero who parlayed his fame into a vast fortune. Jay still adores Daisy, Nick's cousin, although she has married idle-rich Tom Buchanan. When Nick, Daisy, and Jay conspire to bring the lovers together, tragic consequences are inevitable. First published in 1925. FICTION/FITZGERALD
Fowles, John. THE FRENCH LIEUTENANT'S WOMAN. 1969
The tale of a Victorian love triangle as told by a 20th century narrator. It lays bare the secret passions of three residents of the small village of Lyme Regis. Sarah Woodruff, scorned because of a brief affair, becomes the obsession of Charles Smithson, who is torn between his passion for Sarah and his honor. FICTION/FOWLES
Gabaldon, Diana. OUTLANDER. 1991
In 1945, Claire Randall is traveling in Scotland with her husband on a second honeymoon when she innocently touches a boulder in an ancient stone circle. Violently thrown back in time to 1743 by unknown forces, Claire's destiny becomes linked with James Fraser, a young Scots warrior. Soon the two are caught up in a passion and love so absolute that Claire becomes a woman torn between two worlds and two lives. FICTION/GABALDON
Garcia Marquez, Gabriel. LOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA. 1997
Fifty years is not too long to wait for true love! Florentino Ariza truly loves the beautiful Fermina Daza, whom he had lost to Dr. Juvenal Urbino so many years before. FICTION/GARCIA MARQUEZ
Hardy, Thomas. TESS OF THE D'URBERVILLES. 1998
Upon learning of her poverty-stricken family's noble past, Tess Durbeyfield makes an appeal to a wealthy family who bear the ancestral name d'Urberville. Tess is seduced by Alec d'Urberville and secretly bears his child, who dies. Later she meets and marries Angel Clare, who rejects Tess after learning of her past on their wedding night. First published in 1891. FICTION/HARDY
Hemingway, Ernest. A FAREWELL TO ARMS. 1995
Amid the battles on the Italian front during World War I, American ambulance driver Lieutenant Frederick Henry is badly wounded. While recovering he is cared for by Catherine Barkley, a nurse with whom he falls in love. Together, they create a private sanctuary in a world gone mad with war. FICTION/HEMINGWAY
Jackson, Helen Hunt. RAMONA. 1939
The love story of a beautiful, illegitimate Scots-Indian orphan and the courageous Indian Alessandro. Ramona has grown up a privileged, adopted child, unaware of her ancestry. When she chooses Alessandro, she becomes Indian. Persecuted and betrayed by individuals and the government, Ramona and Alessandro struggle and flee. First published in 1884. FICTION/JACKSON
LaFarge, Oliver. LAUGHING BOY. 1976
This story brings to life a young Native American couple experiencing all the uncertainties and joys of first love. They are cultural opposites: Slim Girl has adopted Anglo values, while Laughing Boy lives traditionally. Their relationship forges their inner strength. Young Adult FICTION/LAFARGE
Lawrence, D.H. SONS AND LOVERS. 1991
Paul Morel is a young artist with some success. He is also unusually devoted to his mother, Gertrude, who lives through her son. Gertrude's maternal devotion threatens Paul's ability to find happiness with his childhood friend, Miriam Leivers, and propels him toward the passionate Clara Dawes, a married woman with an unusually independent spirit. First published in 1913. FICTION/LAWRENCE
Maugham, W. Somerset. OF HUMAN BONDAGE. 1963
Seeking freedom and experience, Philip Carey leaves his adoptive parents and their repressed religious life behind only to find a different sort of bondage in the form of his destructive relationship with Mildred. He must break free from both Mildred and his obsessions to find himself and true love. First published in 1936. FICTION/MAUGHAM
Mishima, Yukio. THE SOUND OF WAVES. 1956
Returning to his village after a day of fishing, Shinji comes upon a beautiful stranger, Hatsue, the daughter of a wealthy man. They accidentally meet several more times and come to realize that they are in love. Shinji and Hatsue must overcome many obstacles that stand in the way of their happiness. FICTION/MISHIMA
Mitchell, Margaret. GONE WITH THE WIND. 1996
Passion rules Scarlett O'Hara and nothing will stand in her way as she fights to regain her family wealth in the aftermath of the Civil War. Former social pariah turned heroic blockade-runner, Rhett Butler, wants nothing more in life than to save the tempestuous Scarlett from herself. Scarlett's determination to capture the one heart she can charm but never possess destroys her one true love, a love she realizes too late. First published in 1936. FICTION/MITCHELL
Pasternak, Boris. DOCTOR ZHIVAGO. 1958
The gentle Russian physician and poet Yury Zhivago is married to the devoted Tonia. Enduring forced military service as a doctor he is separated from both Tonia and his lover, Lara, the wife of a revolutionary. Each of his loves inspires him in her own way as he contemplates through poetry his place in life, and the great political and social upheavals of the Russian Revolution. FICTION/PASTERNAK
Tolstoy, Leo. ANNA KARENINA. 1992
Sensual, rebellious Anna falls deeply and passionately in love with the handsome Count Vronsky. When she refuses to conduct the discreet affair that her cold, ambitious husband and Russian high society would condone, she loses everything that ever mattered to her, including her beloved son. First published in 1877. FICTION/TOLSTOY
Trevanian. THE SUMMER OF KATYA. 1983
It is the summer of 1914. The golden days seem to roll on forever...who can hear the guns of August? Deep in the Basque countryside, a young doctor, Jean-Marc Montjean, signs on at a clinic. His first case is simple, the consequences complex, for he meets a young woman, Katya, with whom he falls deeply in love. FICTION/TREVANIAN
Wharton, Edith. THE AGE OF INNOCENCE. 1996
A member of the 1870s upper-class strata of New York, Newland Archer is about to marry the equally stratified May Welland. When May's married cousin, Countess Ellen Olenska, arrives from Europe, mysteriously estranged from her husband and alternately captivating and outraging society, Newland discovers the consequences of falling in love with her. First published in 1920. FICTION/WHARTON
Woolf, Virginia. THE VOYAGE OUT. 2000
Rachel Vinrace is a motherless young woman who, at the age of 24, embarks on a sea voyage with a party of other English folk to South America. Rachel is taken under the wing of her Aunt Helen and they meet a group of expatriates, among them aspiring writer Terence Hewet, with whom Rachel falls in love. First published in 1915. FICTION/WOOLF