5 Classic Romantic Stories That Still Ring True Today

Persuasion, by Jane Austen
This novel, published in 1817, is the quintessential “the one that got away” tale. It follows my personal favorite story arc/plot line, that of which love once lost comes back, inciting hope for a second chance. Our heroine, Anne Elliot, is 27 years old and single. She was engaged once when she was 19, but broke things off with her fiancé, Frederick Wentworth, because a mother-like figure persuaded her that he wasn’t good enough. Anne and Frederick meet again when she is 27, which is young by today’s romance novel standards, but not so young in Austen’s time. They still love each other, and manage to overcome a good round of problems before they finally have their happy ending. The nicest thing about this book is that it’s about two adults; whereas Austen’s other books are more about young people falling in love, or young women falling in love with older men, Persuasion is about an adult man and an adult woman deciding what to do with the rest of their lives during a time in which not many people had such an option.

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, by Anne Bronte
This novel, published in 1848, shocked readers for many different reasons when it was first released, and some of those reasons still resonate today. The story features alcoholics, dysfunctional families, friends who party way too much, and more. Our heroine, Helen, decides to protect her child from her injurious husband by leaving him—and taking the kid with her. She finds safe haven with the help of her brother, but her new neighbors are curious about this supposed widow. One of these neighbors, Gilbert Markham, soon falls in love with her, but she reveals the truth to him. She can’t marry him because, well, divorce wasn’t really a thing back then. Helen could easily be placed in a modern romance novel; the troubles she faces would still make her a recognizable and relatable character today.

Lady Chatterly’s Lover, by D.H. Lawrence
Here’s a great one for erotic romance fans! It’s not fun for your husband to come back from World War I completely devoid of sexual function, but when you add the fact that he never shows any sign of tenderness, well, that’s just as bad of a problem. Such is the case with Constance, aka Lady Chatterley, whose husband wasn’t exactly Don Juan before the war, but at least he could have sex. Her problem is not just that her husband can no longer have sex, but that he also fails to show any kind of warmth to her. This cold attitude, plus her desire to have a sexually satisfying relationship, leads her into the arms of their gamekeeper, with whom she engages in quite the racy affair. Published in 1928, this novel still rings true today thanks in large part to the troubles faced by the main character. Oh, and Lawrence does not refrain from getting into the nitty gritty details, so those who devour erotic novels might be pleasantly surprised.

A Room With a View, by E.M. Forster
This tender novel, published in 1908, is very much a story about never settling, and holding out for the right person. The heroine is Lucy Honeychurch, a young English woman on her first trip to Italy with her cousin, who is a spinster with a spinster-like mentality. Lucy meets an English guy during her travels, and he kisses her passionately, much to her embarrassment. She goes back home and accepts the proposal of a guy who, let’s just say, is not very passionate. Realizing the differences between the two men, Lucy gives her fiance the boot and ends up with the guy who makes her heart race and respects her as a woman and as a person. This book is a relatively light read because our heroine manages to escape what would have been a very problematic marriage.

The Professor, by Charlotte Bronte
This has got to be one of the original “finding love abroad” stories. Charlotte Bronte wrote it before Jane Eyre, but it was published posthumously in 1857. The story is partly based on the author’s experiences as a student and teacher in Brussels. The protagonist, William Crimsworth, is like a male version of Jane Eyre. He’s nothing too exciting to his fellow English people, and he goes abroad in the hopes of making a better life for himself. He meets and eventually marries another teacher to whom he is teaching English. While this particular work doesn’t have the prestige of some of Bronte’s other works, we can still appreciate it today for several reasons. Like so many educated young people today, Williams has a hard time finding gainful employment. He becomes somewhat entranced by a not-so-great woman. And when he finally does end up with the right person, they pool their resources together for a financially secure happy ending.
What classic romantic stories still ring true today for you?