Síomha Connolly, Managing Editor, Digital

Many of my favourite books have love stories at their centre – tangled, testing, tense or tame, no two are the same. I loved both The Time Traveller’s Wife and One Day when I first read them, over ten years ago now, and they’re two of the rare few book-to-film adaptations that I actually enjoy as well – they’re the type of comfort films that you can watch on repeat. The twists and turns of Hemingway’s friendships and early relationships are explored in The Paris Wife, a fictionalised account of his marriage to his first wife, Hadley Richardson, which I loved when I first read it. A recent read was Winter in Tabriz by Sheila L Llewellyn which tells the story of Damian, Arash, Anna and Reza, slipping between Iran in the revolutionary period of the late 1970s, to Berkeley University in California and Oxford in England. While the whole book centres on the relationship between two men, Damian and Arash, from the beginning we are told it is a relationship that does not last, as Arash disappears mysteriously in Iran, but their relationship is beautifully described by Damian throughout the novel as he struggles to come to terms with the loss, and it is an eye-opening account of forbidden love in difficult, dangerous circumstances. It’s also worth mentioning some novels which aren’t overtly “romantic” books or stories about romantic relationships, but are engaged in exploring familial bonds and friendships – which of course can be just as sweet and fulfilling. For stories of familial love, I adore all of Elizabeth Strout’s novels which always strike a chord, and the brilliant The Most Fun We Ever Had by Clare Lombard, a multigenerational novel which follows four adult daughters and their still-madly-in-love parents. A final mention for On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuoung, a story about the love between a mother and son (and so much more).

Patricia Marinho, Designer

My favourite romantic film is Notting Hill starring Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant. As a teenager, I used to always watch this movie, daydreaming about how I would love to have a fairytale like that, and of course, with a happy ending. Watching the film I also fell in love with Notting Hill the place and always dreamt of going there to visit The Travel Bookshop and the famous Blue Door from the movie, which for somebody living in Brazil at the time seemed a little bit far from my reality. But last year I made it, and guess what? I was with my own English boyfriend!  

Sarah Macken, Contributing Editor

Most of my reading is spent binging psychological thrillers and tales of murder, but when I do enjoy a brief sojourn into love stories, they’re always a little alternative. The book that always leaves me moved is To Kill a Mockingbird – not the most obvious love story, I know – but the tale of familial love between Atticus Finch and his plucky six-year-old daughter Scout never fails to leave me welling up. (It doesn’t hurt that he was brought to life by Gregory Peck in the 1962 film, either.) When it comes to film, I’m a sucker for a finding-love-later-in-life story. Think Blythe Danner and Sam Elliott in I’ll See You In My Dreams, Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin in It’s Complicated or Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton (and that Hampton’s beach house) in Something’s Gotta Give. Basically, give me anything by Nancy Meyers – and I’m sold. The excellent interiors don’t hurt, either. 

Penny McCormick, Deputy Editor

I grew up on a diet of romantic tragedies both of the novel and cinematic variety, which perhaps had a subliminal effect on my own relationships. I couldn’t get enough of the concatenated relationships in Thomas Hardy or Ernest Hemingway’s novels, for example, or the fraught, fragile and funny films of Woody Allen. The Return of the Native and A Farewell To Arms were favourite novels, which I have now re-read through a different lens and see in a completely different light. Nowadays, for pleasure I prefer a good thriller or biography to a love story. Do read Devorgilla Days of Hope and Healing by Kathleen Hart, if you are heartbroken or starting over.  

However, I still find there’s something therapeutic about settling down to rewatch a classic movie which you know will make you cry, no matter how many times you admit to watching it. For me, Sydney Pollack’s The Way We Were (with Robert Redford and Barbra Streisand) has stood the test of time, as has Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo & Juliet, the soundtrack of which is one of the best ever. I will admit to loving The Notebook, with Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling, and gulp, Out of Africa. This evening, though, I’m banishing the Kleenex and settling down to watch The Tinder Swindler on Netflix – something all my friends are raving about. Pass the chocolates, please!