I was reading an article about David Nicholls' One Day yesterday, in which it was mentioned that 'there was a certain time in 2009 in which it seemed like everyone on public transport was reading [it]'. Whilst I don't specifically remember my time spent on public transport at that time in much detail, I am very aware that One Day is one of those books that everyone – even those who aren't typically readers – seems to have read. What that comment did immediately make me think of was Normal People, a book I do very clearly remember peeking out of the bag or in the hands of every person on the tube back in 2018/19.
I thought that these two books feel like the defining literary love stories of their respective decades, and am now wondering which titles would define previous decades. By literary love story, I mean a contemporary or literary novel focusing on the relationship between two people which has a romantic element to it, not a novel in the romance genre. By 'decade-defining' I mean the book of its kind that was most commercially successful as well as being critically acclaimed.
Since One Day and Normal People were both released right at the end of their respective decades, the argument could be made that they define the decade immediately after their release (which would be 2010s for OD and 2020s for NP) but I'm not sure. Would be interested to hear your thoughts. If we looked at it this way, my first thought for the 2000s would be The Time Traveller's Wife, which does lean a bit more towards genre fiction than the other two examples, but I feel straddles the line between genre and contemporary enough that it doesn't feel out of place here.
I'd love to hear your thoughts for any of the decades of the previous century, and then perhaps for longer periods of time prior to that (the latter half of the 1800s, for example). Additionally, are there any novels released this decade that you think could be a contender? (My first thought is Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, but I think the romantic element to the primary relationship might be too slight)
by moon_dyke