Thursday Themes: Marriage

In honor of just having been recently married last Friday (!!! :D), here are five books that have to do with love and marriage:


1) Pride & Prejudice - Jane Austen

I mean, you all had to know this would be on here. This book is ALL about marriage! I love Pride & Prejudice because it's about flawed people (both Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth) who realize their mistakes and work to become better people for each other and slowly build up their love and trust. Plus Mrs. Bennett's (and everyone's, really) obsession with marrying off all her daughters is fun and ridiculous to behold.



2) Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

This book has a ton of things going on in it, from the heavy themes of justice and mercy, to the plight of the lower classes, but mixed in among everything is a very sweet love story. The musical makes the love between Cosette and Marius seem very fast, but if you read the book, it happens over the course of a few months, and after all the craziness and death they find happiness in their marriage together. The parts that describe them falling in love are heart-wrenchingly beautiful, all the more so because it is surrounded by such tragedy. 

3) The Amelia Peabody Series - Elizabeth Peters

This is one of my favorite series, about a strong-willed Victorian-era woman named Amelia Peabody. In the first book she goes to Egypt for an adventure and meets Radcliffe Emerson, a handsome but gruff archaeologist who is excavating in Amarna. They solve a mystery, find some intriguing archaeological artifacts, and along the way they fall in love and get married. Their relationship throughout all the books is hilarious and full of love. 

4) The Rosie Project - Graeme Simsion

This is not your normal love story. Don Tillman is a very pedantic scientist with some form of Asperger's and has decided that the best way to find a wife will be in the same manner as conducting a scientific experiment. So he makes up a (very long) questionnaire of desirable qualities for a wide and begins interviews (to no success). But then in walks Rosie, who is everything he didn't want, and yet it all fits so right. This book, told from inside the head of the main character, had me laughing out loud, and the love story is so sweet.

5) The Princess Bride - William Goldman

Well, it does advertise itself as the "greatest love story ever told". And it involves a bride (though techincally, she never does get married...). And, this story gives us the classic speech about "mawwiage". But even if you've seen the movie a thousand times, READ THE BOOK. It's 100x more hilarious than the movie and goes into a lot of background for the characters. And we all love the love between Wesley and Buttercup.