Five Books For February, free edition
Epic love stories: doomed lovers, impossible affairs and maybe one happy ending - that’s right, it’s Valentine's Day!
Welcome to Five Books For, a newsletter for people who love great stories. I’m so happy you’re here! Since it’s February I thought we’d continue with a little seasonal reading but rather than give you a deluge of romcoms with joyful happy endings (which I’m sure you can find in lots of places) I thought it might be more interesting to go big - by which I mean epic - and not necessarily sweet and happy. Here you’ll find a selection of five books, all in different genres. Each is an epic love story. Some are modern, some are classics. One has a happy ending. Hopefully there’ll be something for you to fall in love with, whatever your feelings might be about Valentine's Day.
Let’s dive in!
The Idea Of You by Robinne Lee
“Love, she said, was not always perfect, and not exactly how you expected it to be. But when it descended upon you, there was no controlling it.”
So what’s it about? Solène is a divorced, almost-forty year old art dealer and mother to Isabelle, a teenager who is obsessed with boy band August Moon, who she finds herself meeting at a backstage meet and greet after Isabelle’s father asks Solène to escort Isabelle and her friends to a concert on what is supposed to be his custody weekend. The last thing Solène expects is to fall in lust - and later, in love - with twenty year old Hayes Campbell, Isabelle’s favourite band member. Solène and Hayes’ relationship throws Solène’s life into stark relief: her world is art fairs, gallery shows, discreet wealth, taste. His is stadiums, screaming teenagers, adoration, stratospheric fame. But when their relationship is discovered and becomes tabloid fodder, impacting Isabelle, Solène finds herself with some hard choices to make.
What’s great about it? One of the things I think Lee does really well with this book is to take a premise that could be tacky and turn it into something really good: the love story is convincing and she also wraps in some serious questions about motherhood and feminism which she explores through the story without the book becoming a polemic. Solène has to wrestle with the way her age gap with Hayes is perceived and the fact that it would likely be very different had the gender roles been reversed, as well as the effect the relationship has on Isabelle and the issues it raises for them as a family. Hayes is apparently inspired by Harry Styles and Isabelle listens to a lot of Taylor Swift so if you like pop culture there’s plenty to enjoy about the novel. Lee is also very good at evoking the glamour and luxury of celebrity; it reminds me a little of Taylor Jenkins Reid or even of Jackie Collins in that regard. It’s a pretty quick and easy read so if you’re looking for something relatively undemanding (except perhaps emotionally, given that the ending is sad!) then this would be a great choice.
Give it a try if: you don’t mind graphic sex scenes (there are a lot); you’ve ever had a crush on a pop star (or still do); you like pop culture references; you like thoughtful books about parenting and family dynamics; you’re interested in the double standards men and women are judged by; you like books which explore topical pop culture issues; you like books with a touch of glitz and glamour.
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
“He felt all the torment of his and her position, all the difficulties they were surrounded by in consequence of their station in life, which exposed them to the eyes of the whole world, obliged them to hide their love, to lie and deceive, and again to lie and deceive, to scheme and constantly think about others while the passion that bound them was so strong that they both forgot everything but their love.”
So what’s it about? Not only one of the greatest love stories of all time (some would say one of the greatest books of all time) but also a beautifully written, much bigger and more ambitious reflection on family life, marriage, class and society. This is the story of three marriages - the ill-fated affair, and later marriage, between Anna and Vronksy; the happier marriage of Kitty and Levin and the very different marriage of Dolly and Stiva. As Tolstoy famously observes in the opening line of the novel, “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” When the book begins, Anna is already married to but falls into a passionate affair with Vronsky against her better judgement, and we follow all three couples as they each try to navigate the ties of marriage, family and societal obligation.
What’s great about it? There’s a depth of humanity here that still resonates all these years later despite the fact that all three couples are from a very specific time and place: the 19th century Russian aristocracy. Tolstoy uses the relationships in the book to explore not just the different types of marriage and relationships the characters have but also what love needs to survive: the support that our relationships need from family, from society, from the structures that surround us. He also explores themes of morality and goodness as well as the double standards applied to male as opposed to female infidelity. Anna is an unforgettable character, surely one of the great heroines of literature, and Tolstoy’s writing is spectacular.
Give it a try if: you like long books which can double up as doorstops; you like novels of ideas; you love great characters; you like stories of doomed lovers; you don’t mind books with tragic endings, death and doom; you like reading about intense love affairs; you love beautiful writing; you’re interesting in stories about aristocrats; you love classics; you like reading about about happy marriages; you like books that explore gender double standards; you like books set in Russia; you’re curious to read a book that’s often described as ‘the best book ever written’.
The Song Of Achilles by Madeline Miller
“I could recognize him by touch alone, by smell; I would know him blind, by the way his breaths came and his feet struck the earth. I would know him in death, at the end of the world.”
So what’s it about? Everyone has heard of the Trojan War, but this tells the story from a new perspective - that of Patroclus, best friend and lover of Achilles, greatest hero of the Greeks. The story begins long before the war when the Patroclus and Achilles are still young and follows the development of their relationship through the events of the war all the way into the afterlife.
What’s great about it? Achilles has some of the most beautifully written prose I have ever read; it’s also utterly gripping and propulsive. It’s deeply moving and while the love story itself it’s beautiful it has enough action and skilfully drawn characters to be worth reading even if you’re not interested in love stories. It explores not only the love story between Achilles and Patroclus but also themes of honour and pride, ambition and legacy, and the question of what it means to be remembered.
Give it a try if: you like beautiful writing; you’re interested in Ancient Greece; you like myths and legends; you like queer romance; you love books that make you cry; you like being deeply moved; you like historical fiction; you want to find a new all-time favourite.
Captain Corelli’s Mandolin by Louis de Bernières
“Love is a temporary madness. It erupts like an earthquake and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have become so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of promises of eternal passion. That is just being "in love" which any of us can convince ourselves we are. Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident. Your mother and I had it, we had roots that grew towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossom had fallen from our branches we found that we were one tree and not two.”
So what’s it about? Pelagia is a young woman living with her father, Dr. Iannis, on the Greek island of Cephalonia, just as Mussolini is about to invade Greece. She is engaged to be married to a local fisherman named Mandras, but her father isn’t convinced that they will be a good match and encourages them delay their wedding until the war is over. Mandras leaves to fight at the front and Pelagia is left on the island with her father when the German and Italian soldiers arrive, including the Italian Captain Corelli, who is billeted to live with Pelagia and her father. As the war progresses, all of the people develop and change. Mandras becomes cruel and radicalised as the various Greek fighting groups begin to prepare for the civil war that will follow the expulsion of the Axis fighters; Pelagia overcomes her initial hatred of the Italian and German soldiers as she begins to see their humanity and falls in love with Captain Corelli. But with the chaos of war all around them, can they manage to find a way to be together?
What’s great about it? This is a beautifully written and moving book that explores themes of our shared humanity and the horror of war, as well as friendship, politics, history, storytelling, family and of course love. While Pelagia and Corelli’s love story is at the heart of the novel it isn’t the only one; there is Pelagia’s earlier, immature love for Mandras and all of the ways in which love shows up between families and friends and in the community of the island. It also has plenty of humour, often found in the awful absurdity of war and the misunderstandings that abound from having characters speak so many different languages. The author manages to narrate the book using not just a few voices but multiple narrators, which could have fallen flat but which really works here. Pelagia and Corelli are memorable characters a who you find yourself rooting for and de Bernierès is good at showing people as fully rounded, complex humans whichever side of the war they’re on, something which feels all the more remarkable these days.
Give it a try if: you like historical fiction, especially stories from WW2; you like books about families; you like books about small communities; you like stories set in wartime; you like stories about women having to overcome tremendous difficulties; you like stories books set on islands or books set in Greece.
A Court Of Thorns And Roses by Sarah J. Maas
“The quickest way to a man’s heart is through the fourth and fifth ribs.”
So what’s it about? Finally, a happy ending! If you’ve managed to miss all the hype about this series (of which this book is the first) then so much the better. I went into it completely blind and honestly I think that’s the best way, but regardless, it’s well worth your time despite the length. Feyre is a human who lives at the edge of the forest; her family depend entirely on her hunting skills for their survival. When she kills a member of the Fae in animal form she is given a choice: forfeit her own life, or go and live with the Fae in Prythian, the Fae lands. As she starts to fall in love with Tamlin, ruler of the Spring Court, she realises that there is a curse over the whole of Prythian, which she might be the key to breaking, if only her love for Tamlin is strong enough. And this is just the first book - there are five in the series so far.
What’s great about it? Maas writes epic fantasy and romance really well; there is a twist to the series which I won’t spoil but which takes place in this book and is foreshadowed fairly early on for those with sharp eyes, and it’s satisfying to watch it all play out. The world-building is exceptional, the magic is fun and her characterisation is great. I did find it a bit of a slow starter so if you find the same do bear with it, it’s worth it. Maas writes complicated, imperfect, prickly heroines really well and she’s good at writing evil women too. Her male characters are well-rendered and she excels at both found family and friendship, which is what most of her books are built around. This book is just the first in the series and while it’s great, I would definitely recommend the whole series - you can experience the character arcs and see how everything fits together. There is a lot of sex so if that’s not your cup of tea then you’ll have to skip/skim quite a lot of scenes but there will still be plenty to interest you even if that’s the case.
Give it a try if: you like strong female heroines with sharp edges; you love a good adventure story; you like battles between good and evil; you like (eventual) happy endings; you love stories about found family and deep friendships; you like stories where characters have to overcome great difficulties; you enjoy steamy romance; you like male characters with lots of muscles; you like to see lots of witty back and forth between love interests; you love magic and mythical beasts; you like books inspired by fairy tales.
Thanks for reading!
I hope you found at least one book here to fall in love with; I would absolutely love to hear whether you’ve read any of these books and what you thought of them, or which ones you’d add to the list! As always, please feel free to reply directly to this email - I love hearing from you all.
Paid subscribers get a second newsletter later in the month with an additional recommendation (sometimes more), access to that month’s themed poem and playlist, as well as the ability to comment on posts and chat to other readers in the comments and various other goodies. If you’d like to upgrade your subscription for just €5 each month/€50 each year, you can click the button below. Regardless of your subscription type, I’m so glad you’re here. Join me next month for five new recommendations on a very different theme!
Happy reading,
Kate
Goal for this year is to read The Idea of You before the movie comes out!