Romance

"The course of true love never did run smooth," wrote William Shakespeare in A Midsummer Night's Dream—and he knew what he was talking about. A text from this study guide collection might be just the thing to remind you of the bliss and pain of love.

What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day

by Pearl Cleage

Publication year 1997

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Death, Marriage, Siblings, Community

Tags Realistic Fiction, Romance, African American Literature, Modern Classic Fiction

Pearl Cleage’s debut novel, What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day, traces one summer in the life of the protagonist, Ava Johnson. Ava’s once independent and exciting life in Atlanta, Georgia, changes forever when she tests positive for HIV (human immunodeficiency virus), the virus that can lead to AIDS. As a Black woman living in the 1990s, Ava is immediately met with social and cultural stigmas surrounding the virus. Unable to maintain her hair... Read What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day Summary

What the Wind Knows

by Amy Harmon

Publication year 2019

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Colonialism, Language, Safety & Danger, Memory, The Past, Politics & Government, Family, Nation

Tags Historical Fiction, Romance, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Love & Sexuality, Military & War, European History, Politics & Government, World History, Irish Literature

... Read What the Wind Knows Summary

What to Say Next

by Julie Buxbaum

Publication year 2017

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Mental Health, Friendship, Grief, Disability, Coming of Age, Self Discovery, Community

Tags Romance, Realistic Fiction, Diversity, Bullying, Modern Classic Fiction, Mental Illness

... Read What to Say Next Summary

What We Talk About When We Talk About Love

by Raymond Carver

Publication year 1981

Genre Short Story, Fiction

Themes Love, Marriage

Tags Relationships, American Literature, Love & Sexuality, US History, Modern Classic Fiction, World History, Romance, Classic Fiction

American author Raymond Carver is best known for his short stories and his simple, precise writing style. He was a nominee for the National Book Awards as well as a Pulitzer Prize in Fiction. In 1988, he was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Carver is one of the chief figures in the “Dirty Realism” movement of American writing, which became popular in the 1980s and provided vignettes of the dark side... Read What We Talk About When We Talk About Love Summary

When Dimple Met Rishi

by Sandhya Menon

Publication year 2017

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Coming of Age, Love, Immigration, Family

Tags Romance, Relationships, Arts & Culture, Realistic Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction

When Dimple Met Rishi (2017), a young adult romantic novel by Indian-American author Sandhya Menon, is focused on the blossoming love story between two Indian-American teenagers during a tech summer camp. It was widely praised for its realistic and original depiction of the ways in which second-generation teenagers react to their mixed cultures.Dimple Shah is a strong-willed eighteen-year-old girl with plans to go to Stanford. She wants to go to university to build a career... Read When Dimple Met Rishi Summary

When We Collided

by Emery Lord

Publication year 2016

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Love, Family

Tags Romance, Mental Illness, Realistic Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction

When We Collided is a young adult novel written by Emery Lord and published in 2016. The novel explores themes of mental illness, grief, and familial bonds. Lord presents the story to her readers through alternating chapters between two characters: Vivi and Jonah. They are the main protagonists of the novel who find themselves in a summer romance that changes them forever. Through their bond, both Jonah and Vivi learn more about themselves, their families... Read When We Collided Summary

Where Angels Fear to Tread

by E. M. Forster

Publication year 1905

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Social Class, Justice, Love

Tags British Literature, Historical Fiction, Romance, Classic Fiction

E. M. Forster’s debut novel, Where Angels Fear to Tread (1905), is a tragicomedy that explores the collision of two vastly different cultures. The story follows the Herritons, a respectable upper-middle-class English family whose carefully ordered world is thrown into chaos when their widowed sister-in-law, Lilia, impulsively marries a handsome and much younger Italian man from a provincial town. Philip Herriton, Lilia’s former brother-in-law, is dispatched from the repressive suburb of Sawston to the passionate... Read Where Angels Fear to Tread Summary

Where She Went

by Gayle Forman

Publication year 2011

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Fame

Tags Realistic Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction, Music, Romance

Book Details & Major ThemesWhere She Went is a work of young adult fiction by Gayle Forman. The novel was published in 2011 and is the sequel to Froman’s earlier work If I Stay.In If I Stay, Mia Hall is 17 years old and involved in a fatal car crash that kills both her parents and younger brother. The novel unfolds over a 24-hour period where Mia is in a critical condition and has the... Read Where She Went Summary