By Christa Protano
Gentle Reader:
The time has finally come to swoon over Penelope and Colin’s friends-to-lovers story in season 3 of our favorite Regency-era series Bridgerton. And since this season is divided into two delightful parts, we thought it’d be appropriate to suggest some romantic reading to tide you over in between drops. After all, four weeks is a rather long time to wait for a happy ending. And who better to spend our time with then the creators of classic romantic literature. From Jane Austen to the Brontë sisters, these iconic writers surely inspired Julia Quinn and countless other contemporary authors to reimagine our favorite romantic tropes. So let’s add these literary diamonds to our book stack, shall we?
In Jane Austen’s most popular work, we quickly become engaged in the challenging relationship between Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy and eventually find ourselves rooting for them when they finally find romance together in the end. Why is the enemies-to-lovers trope so appealing? Perhaps it’s because it shows how anyone can find love despite their flaws.
Way before Taylor Swift wrote her hit song, Charlotte Brontë created one of fiction’s most iconic anti-heroes: Jane Eyre. This particular dark romance features a young girl—plain, poor, and alone—who endures abuse, abandonment, and ridicule only to become a loving, compassionate young woman of great moral character. It remains Charlotte Brontë’s greatest achievement.
Austen has created many memorable female characters, with intriguing Emma Woodhouse being perhaps the most popular. Emma, a matchmaker at heart, is obsessed with finding love and romance—for others. As for her own love life, she wants nothing of it. She even feels repulsed by the amorous declarations she receives. But as her matchmaking schemes go awry, and her friend Harriet shares her feelings toward a certain friend, Mr. Knightley, Emma soon becomes aware of her own heart.
Winner of the 1921 Pulitzer Prize, Edith Wharton’s The Age of Innocence is set amidst the pre-World War I “Golden Age” of upper-class society in New York, and is framed by society’s strict moral code. When soon-to-be-wed Newland Archer finds himself enraptured by his bride-to-be’s cousin, he faces a turbulent battle between passion and social value. One of the great masterpieces in American literature, this work has also inspired a more modern take on historical romance in the form of The Gilded Age.
Written by Mary Shelley during the Regency Era, this Gothic-style romance is among the first of true science fiction novels, if not the first. A young scientist named Victor Frankenstein, after going through his own near-death experience, decides to play God and create life in the form of a grotesque creature, which turns into a nightmare. Through his experience, he learns that the gift of life is precious, not disposable.
Love Poems is a collection of works from more than 50 prolific poets, including Regency-era writer Lord Byron. This volume contains over a hundred works of poetry that have been cherished for generations, and that continue to stir modern readers’ hearts with their beauty. Other poets include Sappho, William Shakespeare, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Emily Dickinson, and Robert Frost.