If you would rather eschew the commercialised cheese-fest of overbooked restaurants, or avoid spending your evening watching Bridget Jones with a Cadbury’s Milk Tray, jump on a proper love story instead. But is it to be romance of a high art form or a good grubby slice of some chick lit?
No one can deny the timeless appeal of the classics; never was a man so grouchily- yet so sexily- portrayed as Rochester. For all his flaws and mad women hidden away in the attic, his expressions of love for the humble Jane Eyre are sincere and beautiful. He professes to his plain employee: ‘I have for the first time found what I can truly love – I have found you’. Yet this is no mere fairytale romp and the reader will be subjected to all the sufferings of complicated, unforgettable characters. With indelible literary technique, Bronte appeals directly to you: ‘Gentle reader, may you never feel what I then felt! May your eyes never shed such stormy, scalding, heart-wrung tears as poured from mine.’ You need not feel too guilty; you rest safely assured that love stories of Jane Eyre’s calibre are also an art form of the highest quality. Try Daphne Du Maurier’s Rebecca for another narrative with a dark side, or immerse yourself in the French Revolution of The Scarlet Pimpernel. There are even some juicy bits as far back as Greek mythology – revisit the story of Penelope as she waits for her Odysseus, warding off ambitious suitors. Perhaps you will discover on the journey that your love is also worth waiting for. The forbidden will never be as illicit as the doomed love affair of Romeo and his Juliet, although this one is arguably best enjoyed on the stage. Bringing that into the 21st century, Orlando Bloom’s Broadway version definitely continues to appeal…
If this is all a bit too intense, and really you’d just like to switch off and enjoy the ride, recent chick lit has great things to offer to enhance your sofa time. This is the sitcom of romantic literature and makes no claims to be a higher art form or moral authority. Alongside the usual offerings which focus on sex and consumerism, a recent coup of easy reading was the incredibly successful One Day. This one gives a gritty, comic rollercoaster ride as two unlikely lovers go from graduation, to mediocre jobs, to media stardom and finally, tragedy. This is one could definitely appeal to blokes as well as avid female chick-litters. With similarities to the traditional romance novel, chick lit such as The Girls’ Guide to Hunting and Fishing (a collection of witty short stories) is amongst the best. If you’re still stuck, look no further than Sophie Kinsella, the queen of light reading. This may be chick lit but the woman behind the nom-de-plume studied at Oxford. The Undomestic Goddess came out a few years ago and newer contributions to our shelves include Twenties Girl and I’ve Got Your Number.
If you’re still sitting on the fence between high and low culture, there is also no harm in opting for the middle ground. Tracy Chevalier’s Girl With a Pearl Earring or Arthur Golden’s Memoirs of a Geisha will transport you back in time as you embark on an affair with Johannes Vermeer and enter the world of the Japanese geisha girl as her life and loves unfold in a dating scene entirely different from that of campus.