A Classical Romance

I decided the other day to reread ANNE OF GREEN GABLES. I loved it as a kid and wanted to recapture that happiness. I had tried to read it a few years ago, but this time I had better luck and thoroughly enjoyed it. In fact, I bought the rest of the books in the series because I wanted to follow the romance between Anne and Gilbert, her childhood enemy-turned-friend.

It turns out the rest of the books do continue the romance, albeit, at a slower pace than I expected. It takes a couple of books, but eventually the relationship blossoms. What intrigued me was that the last book takes place later in their marriage, when the bloom begins to fade, and Anne attempts to make her husband fall in love all over again. These books were written long ago and were written for teenage girls, but the story is still just relevant.

It got me thinking about how much romance factors into everything, especially in the classics. I am a huge Dumas fan, and THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO is a beautiful, tragic love story. Even the series beginning with THE THREE MUSKETEERS features romances galore. In fact, it's hard to think of any classic that doesn't feature love and romance in some form or another.

Here's hoping there's love and romance in the coming year!

Nicole