Romantic Reads for Valentine’s Day

Why not get into the mood for Valentine’s Day by reading some good, romantic fiction? Here are 10 of the best according to the results of our latest staff straw poll.

Top of the pops was ‘One Day’ by David Nicholls, closely followed by the great Bronte classics ‘Jane Eyre’ (Charlotte Bronte) and ‘Wuthering Heights’ (Emily Bronte).

David Nicholls, One day

15th July 1988. Emma and Dexter meet for the first time on the night of their graduation. Tomorrow they must go their separate ways. So where will they be on this one day next year? And the year after that? And every year that follows?

Jane Austen also featured prominently with 2 titles in our list, ‘Persuasion’ and ‘Pride and Prejudice’.

Anna Hope’s ‘The Ballroom’ published just last year, was the newest book to make the list.

1911: Inside an asylum at the edge of the Yorkshire moors, where men and women are kept apart by high walls and barred windows, there is a ballroom both vast and beautiful. For one bright evening every week they come together and dance. And, when John and Ella meet, it is a dance that will change two lives forever.

Other recommendations included:

Ernest Hemingway, ‘A Farewell to Arms’ 

A young American volunteers for the Italian ambulance service in the First World War. Working near the front, he meets and falls in love with a British nurse. Disillusioned by the war, he makes the decision to desert, taking his new love to Switzerland.

Wendy Jones, ‘The Thoughts and Happenings of Wilfred Price, Purveyor of Superior Funerals’

Wilfred Price, overcome with emotion on a sunny spring day, proposes to a girl he barely knows at a picnic. The girl, Grace, joyfully accepts and rushes to tell her family of Wilfred's intentions. By this time Wilfred has realised his mistake, he does not love Grace and soon finds himself in love with another.

Rachel Joyce, ‘The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy’

When Queenie Hennessy discovers that Harold Fry is walking the length of England to save her, and all she has to do is wait, she is shocked. Her note to him had explained she was dying from cancer. How can she wait? A new volunteer at the hospice suggests that Queenie should write again; only this time she must tell Harold the truth. Composing this new message, the volunteer promises, will ensure Queenie hangs on. It will also atone for the secrets of the past. As the volunteer points out, 'It isn't Harold who is saving you. It is you, saving Harold Fry.' This is that letter. A letter that was never sent. Told in simple, emotionally-honest prose, with a mischievous bite, this is a novel about the journey we all must take to learn who we are; it is about loving and letting go.

Deborah Moggach, ‘Heartbreak Hotel’

Russell 'Buffy' Buffery erstwhile thespian and thrice-married B&B owner has hit on an idea: So you've split up. It happens to the best of us. But marriage is a division of labour and chances are you've relied on your Better Half for something you can't do yourself fixing the house, sorting out the finances. When they've gone, you're as helpless as a baby. Enrol on Courses for Divorces and in a week you’ll be able to stand on your own two feet. Join Buffy and his raggle-taggle group of singletons and divorcees as they seek solace and late-flowering love in this novel.

Llyfrau Rhamantus ar gyfer Diwrnod San Ffolant

Beth am fynd i naws Dydd Sant Ffolant drwy ddarllen ffuglen dda, rhamantus? Dyma 10 o'r goreuon yn ôl canlyniadau arolwg diweddar ymhlith ein staff.

Ar y brig oedd ‘One Day’ gan David Nicholls, ac yn ail agos un o glasuron Bronte ‘Jane Eyre’ (Charlotte Bronte) a ‘Wuthering Heights’ (Emily Bronte).

David Nicholls, One day

15 Gorffennaf 1988. Mae Emma a Dexter yn cwrdd am y tro cyntaf ar y noson y maen nhw’n graddio. Fory, mae’n rhaid iddynt ddilyn llwybrau gwahanol. Felly ble fyddan nhw ar y diwrnod hwn y flwyddyn nesaf? A’r flwyddyn wedyn? A phob blwyddyn wedi hynny?

Roedd Jane Austen yn boblogaidd iawn, gyda 2 lyfr yn ein rhestr, ‘Persuasion’ a ‘Pride and Prejudice’.

‘The Ballroom’ gan Anna Hope a gyhoeddwyd y llynedd oedd y llyfr mwyaf newydd i gyrraedd y rhestr.

1911: Y tu mewn i seilam ar ymyl rhostir Swydd Efrog, lle mae dynion a merched yn cael eu cadw ar wahân gan waliau uchel a ffenestri â barrau, mae neuadd ddawns eang a hardd. Am un noson lachar bob wythnos maent yn dod at ei gilydd i ddawnsio. A, phan fydd John ac Ella yn cwrdd, mae'n ddawns fydd yn newid dau fywyd am byth.

Ymhlith y llyfrau eraill a argymhellir, mae:

Ernest Hemingway, ‘A Farewell to Arms’ 

Mae gwirfoddolwyr Americanaidd ifanc yn gwirfoddoli ar gyfer gwasanaeth ambiwlans yr Eidal yn y Rhyfel Byd Cyntaf. Gan weithio'n agos i'r rheng flaen, mae'n cwrdd â nyrs Brydeinig ac yn syrthio mewn cariad â hi. Wedi ei ddadrithio gan y rhyfel, gwna'r penderfyniad i adael, gan gymryd ei gariad newydd i'r Swistir.

Wendy Jones, ‘The Thoughts and Happenings of Wilfred Price, Purveyor of Superior Funerals’

Mae Wilfred Price, â'i emosiwn yn drech nag ef yn ystod picnic, ar ddiwrnod heulog yn y gwanwyn, yn gofyn i ferch y mae prin yn ei hadnabod, i'w briodi. Mae'r ferch, Grace, yn derbyn ei gynnig yn llawen, cyn rhuthro i ddweud wrth ei theulu am fwriad Wilfred. Erbyn hyn, mae Wilfred yn cydnabod ei gamgymeriad, nid yw'n caru Grace ac yn fuan mae'n sylweddoli ei fod mewn cariad â rhywun arall.

Rachel Joyce, ‘The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy’

Pan mae Queenie Hennessy yn darganfod bod Harold Fry yn cerdded hyd Lloegr i'w hachub, a'r cyfan sydd angen iddi ei wneud yw aros, mae hi wedi'i syfrdanu. Roedd ei nodyn iddo wedi esbonio ei bod yn marw o ganser. Sut all hi aros? Mae gwirfoddolwr newydd yn yr hosbis yn awgrymu y dylai Queenie ysgrifennu eto; ond y tro hwn mae'n rhaid iddi ddweud y gwir wrth Harold. Bydd ysgrifennu'r neges newydd hon, addawodd y gwirfoddolwr, yn sicrhau bod Queenie yn dal ati. Bydd hefyd yn gwneud iawn am y cyfrinachau o'r gorffennol. Fel y dywed y gwirfoddolwr, 'Nid Harold sy'n dy achub di. Ti sydd yn achub Harold Fry. ' Dyma'r llythyr hwnnw. Llythyr na gafodd ei anfon. Dyma nofel, sy'n cael ei hadrodd mewn rhyddiaith syml, onest gyda brathiad direidus, nofel am y daith y mae'n rhaid i ni gyd ei chymryd i ddysgu pwy ydym ni; mae'n ymwneud â chariad a gadael fynd.

Deborah Moggach, ‘Heartbreak Hotel’

Mae Russell Buffy 'Buffery actor gynt, perchennog gwely a brecwast, y bu'n briod deirgwaith, wedi cael syniad: Felly, rydych wedi gwahanu. Mae'n digwydd i'r goreuon yn ein plith. Ond mae priodas yn rhaniad llafur ac yn ôl pob tebyg, rydych wedi dibynnu ar eich gwraig/gŵr am rywbeth na allwch wneud eich hun ee trefnu'r tŷ, rhoi trefn ar y sefyllfa ariannol. Ar ôl iddynt fynd, rydych mor ddiymadferth â baban. Cofrestrwch ar gyrsiau  Ysgariadau ac mewn wythnos byddwch yn gallu sefyll ar eich traed eu hunain. Ymunwch â Buffy a'i grŵp o bobl ysgaredig/sengl hanner call wrth iddynt geisio cysur a chariad hwyr-flodeuol yn y nofel hon.