Category Archives: Romance

Bucketlists and marriages of convenience: The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery uses a bunch of tropes before they were popular

The Blue Castle was L.M. Montgomery’s only book written for adults and my favourite of her non-Anne books. Really the only difference between it and her young adult novels is that the heroine is 29 and unmarried teen pregnancy is … Continue reading

Posted in 20th Century, 20th Century Light Fiction, Canadian, Fiction, General adult audience, Light Fiction, Novel, Romance, Young Adult | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion

The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion follows on where The Rosie Project left off. Don and Rosie are now married and living and working in New York. They’ve adjusted to many of the challenges of married life and abandoned the … Continue reading

Posted in Australian, Comedy, Contemporary, General adult audience, Romance | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Victorian novel about decision paralysis: Can You Forgive Her? by Anthony Trollope

Can You Forgive Her? by Anthony Trollope has a name that is a bit off-putting. It suggests an obnoxious main character who will be hard to sympathise with. I didn’t find this to be the case. The main character, Alice … Continue reading

Posted in Classic, General adult audience, Novel, Novel of Manners, Romance, Social Novel, Victorian | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion features an unusual hero on a mission to find a wife. To increase the efficiency of the process, Don Tillman develops a lengthy questionnaire that will allow him to quickly eliminate women who would … Continue reading

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A Country Gentleman and His Family by Margaret Oliphant

A Country Gentleman and His Family by Margaret Oliphant is surprisingly well written. Mrs Oliphant was a Victorian authoress who wrote novels to support herself and several dependents so was prolific but variable in quality. This book had skillful characterisation … Continue reading

Posted in British, Classic, Family Drama, General adult audience, Novel of Manners, Pastoral novel, Romance, Social Novel, Victorian | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell

Mary Barton is a story that looks at the difficulties of lower class people in manufacturing towns during the Industrial Revolution. It has some really engaging characters and charming story-telling. My enjoyment was up there with North and South and … Continue reading

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The Black Tulip by Alexandre Dumas

The Black Tulip by Alexandre Dumas is a tale of two tulip-fanciers – Dutchmen obsessed with growing (or stealing) a 100 000 guilder-winning black tulip. Set against the backdrop of post-Reformation Holland, the story is a mix of historical novel, … Continue reading

Posted in Classic, French, General adult audience, Historical Fiction, Melodrama, Romance, Victorian | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Miserable, Not Romantic: The Happy Ever After of Marrying a Scoundrel Explored in The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë is a book about what happens if you actually marry Mr Rochester or Mr Willoughby. Helen marries a careless but charismatic man and finds that her influence quickly wanes after their marriage. … Continue reading

Posted in British, Classic, Diarial, General adult audience, Novel, Pastoral novel, Realism, Romance, Social Novel, Victorian | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith

I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith begins “I write this sitting in the kitchen sink” and is the delightful story of an impoverished family living in a crumbling castle in the early 20th century. It has a delightful cast … Continue reading

Posted in 13 years and up, 20th Century YA, Comedy, Coming of Age/Rites of Passage, Diarial, Fiction, Light Fiction, Novel, Romance, YA Classic, Young Adult | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment