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10 Best Historical Romance Novels of All Time

Discover the best historical romance novels of all time, featuring top authors and unforgettable love stories that span the ages.
Historical romantic literature novels came into being at the end of the 18th century and reached their prosperity in the first half of the 19th century. It is one of the most important trends in modern Western literature. 

Vertically, historical romantic literature is the inheritance and development of the humanistic concept of the Renaissance, and it is also a powerful backlash against rigid French classicism. 

Horizontally, historical romantic literature and subsequent realism literature together constitute the West The two major systems of modern literature created a flourishing situation of Western literature in the 19th century and exerted a profound influence on later modernism and postmodernism literature.

Below we recommend The 10 most popular historical romance novels of all time.
best-historical-romance-novels-of-all-time

1. The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller

The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller 

This book tells about an unforgettable and unforgettable extramarital affair of a middle-aged man that was forged in 4 days.

It took less than two weeks to write this book, and it ranked first on the bestseller list for three consecutive years after its publication. 

It was adapted into a movie of the same name, starring Meryl Streep. The author also got rich because of this work.

So far no novel can surpass its place in my heart. No matter the writing style, the narrative method, or the charm of the story itself are all amazing. 

After so many years, I can still clearly remember some fragments and sentences in the book, and I can also remember the scene of myself crying bitterly in the middle of the night when I was reading this book. Many times, I think this book is simply a miracle.

This book presents a kind of deep love, a kind of love rarely seen in modern society. The book states that "such a precise love is only once in a lifetime". 

Just like the opening sentence of the novel: "In this world where the promise of gold has been shattered and love is nothing more than acting on the spot, such an unusual story is worth telling."

In the past few years, I moved or traveled, and always put this book in a close-fitting backpack. I don't want to recommend such a good book to too many people, but I can't help but share it with friends who really love books. The fun can only be grasped the moment you actually open the book.

Wonderful book excerpt:
"I only have one thing to say. I will never tell anyone about this one thing. I want you to remember: in a universe full of chaos, such a clear love will only appear once, regardless of How many lives have you lived, and you will never reappear again."
"Each of us lives in our own past. People will spend one minute getting to know someone, one hour liking someone, and one day falling in love with someone. In the end, It takes a lifetime to forget someone."

2. The Painted Veil by W Somerset Maugham

The Painted Veil by W Somerset Maugham

Katie, a charming and vain British woman, accepts the proposal of the withdrawn doctor Walter Fein to avoid becoming an old girl. 

She left the flashy and empty social circle of London in the 1920s and went with her husband to the Oriental colony of Hong Kong. 

Katie, who was dissatisfied and bored with the marriage, began to secretly have an affair with Hong Kong Assistant Chief Secretary Charlie Tangsheng. 

After Walter discovers his wife's infidelity, he begins his terrible plan of revenge: Katie must follow him to mainland of China to quell a cholera plague that is in the midst of a frenzied epidemic. 

In the beautiful but dangerous environment of a foreign country, they experienced an emotional wave that could not be imagined and experienced...

In summary, this book is about the awakening of a woman. There are a lot of psychological portrayals in the book, which is simply amazing. 

It is both popular and interesting, with philosophy in the ridicule. I read it more than three times, almost in one go, and every time I read it differently. 

I have already recommended it to many friends around me, and the response is very good.

The film of the same name adapted from this novel has also become a classic, but I personally feel that the film is not as refreshing as the novel gives people.

Maugham's books are of very good quality, which is why he is sought after by generations of young people. Maugham is a very smart writer and he reads amazingly. 

A major feature of his works is that he uses a blade-like style to portray humanity in three parts. He is very good at telling stories, with humorous language, with a sense of ridicule, and it is both fun and knowledgeable to read. His works are my personal favorite.

Original excerpt:
"I have no illusions about you. I know you are stupid, frivolous, and empty-headed, but I love you. I know your intentions, your ideals, you are snobbish and vulgar, but I love you. I know you are a second-rate guy. , But I love you. To appreciate the things you are passionate about, I do my best to show you that I am not ignorant, vulgar, gossiping, and extremely stupid. I take great pains. I know that wisdom will shock you, so everywhere Be cautious, and be sure to act like a fool with any man you associate. I know you married me only for your own personal benefit. I love you so deeply, I don’t care about it."

3. Letter From an Unknown Woman by Stefan Zweig

Letter From an Unknown Woman by Stefan Zweig

This book is about a strange woman. At the last moment of her life, she was soaked in the infatuation of her life. She wrote a tragic and moving long letter, revealing her 18-year-old woman to a famous writer. Secret love and dedication.

This book has a strong sense of substitution and makes people excited. You can see a humble soul hiding in a dark corner, obsessed with an arrogant man, dedicating her youth and body at all costs, even if she doesn't hold hope, whispers, and greets. What kind of obsession is this? Is it ignorance or courage?

This book uses the first-person letter to unfold the story step by step. It feels like a gleam of flowers and feels inexplicably distressed, and the tenderness between the lines is very moving. How could there be such an infatuated woman in the world? I cried when I watched it.

Book excerpt:
"Except for you, there is no one I can love. But who are you? You have never recognized me. You walked by me, like walking by a river, you stepped on my body, it’s like stepping on a rock. You always walk, walk, and keep walking forward, but you let me pass away my whole life in waiting."

Wonderful book excerpt:
"I am always nervous for you, trembling for you; but you have no feeling about it, just like you have a pocket watch in your pocket and you have no feeling for its tight spring; this spring is patiently in secret Counting your hours for you, calculating your time, accompanying you around with its inaudible heartbeat, and you have glanced at it only once during its tick-and-tick millions of seconds Take a look."
"How stupid I have done! I kissed the doorknob that your hand touched. I stole a cigar butt that you threw away before you entered the door. I regard this butt as a holy thing because your lips touched it. At night I ran downstairs with excuses a hundred times and went to the alley to see which of your rooms was still lit. This way I can feel your invisible existence and get close to you in my imagination."

4. The Reader by Bernhard Schlink

The Reader by Bernhard Schlink

The work describes a 15-year-old middle school student Michael meets 36-year-old train conductor Hannah, and the two maintain a deformed sexual relationship. 

In the heat, Hannah mysteriously disappeared, leaving Michael in a daze. Hannah is an emotionally unstable woman who likes to hear Michael read literary books for her, except that Michael knows almost nothing about Hannah. 

Until Michael entered the university, participated in the court internship as a law student, and when he was listening to the trial of the criminals in the Nazi concentration camp, he knew Hannah's true identity.

Whether in Germany or China, this novel has always been regarded as an anti-Nazi masterpiece. The film "Reading of Life and Death" adapted from the novel, starring Kate Winslet won the 81st Oscar for this film.

This is a novel with a very good reading experience. It is profound and moving. The language is concise and restrained. It does not have the verbose feeling of some foreign novels. 

It is particularly shocking to read to the end, and I can no longer control my emotions. Thinking back many years later, the details of the story are vivid.

Kafka said: "The book must be an ax to pierce the frozen sea in our hearts." This book is just like that.

Book excerpt:
"When she fell asleep in my arms, the sound of sawmills in the yard fell silent, the crows were singing, and there were only fainter and darker colors left in the kitchen, I was also immersed in infinite happiness. "
"Sometimes, I feel that she also seems to be distressed by her coldness and ruthlessness. It seems that she also longs for my warmth, my apology, my guarantee, and my plea. Sometimes I think she conquered too easily. But no matter what, I have no choice."

5. The Devil Gets The Better of Love by Hande Altayli

The Devil Gets The Better of Love by Hande Altayli

Adler did not want to warm the kind-hearted Mr. Hedgehog, nor the equally warm Sinan, nor the calm and steady Levent, but the Omar who repeatedly broke her heart.

Why do they fall in love with each other? Perhaps, they regard each other as the legacy left by their aunt Julie De, perhaps, they are just attached to each other's body, perhaps, in their eyes, love is a kind of pain, the burning sensation of fire. 

Or, love doesn't need a reason at all, can't help it, and can't get rid of it.

But even if they love each other again, they still can't be together. Obviously, the crowd confirmed the opponent at a glance, but they still had to look for it and go around. 

This is not pressure from others or the world, it is a psychological battle between themselves and themselves.

The author said in the book
"She found that people in love will inevitably be broken up by a turbulent river. This is a river full of fear, anxiety, self, expectation, doubt, and worry... You only have one chance, only one, go Wade across the turbulent and turbid river, and arrive at the lover who is waiting for you on the other side: only when you believe in his love, the suspension bridge across the river will appear."
Adler and Omar didn't trust each other. Adler's childhood experience and Orma’s dead love made them lose their sense of security. 

They have been suspicious, jealous, and shrinking. Obviously, love is humble, but pretending to be proud. So they escaped, and they went to find their spiritual sustenance.

In "After Goodbye, Say Goodbye", Handy Astley's writing is delicate and sincere, and the entanglement of inner narration and feelings is pure and passionate. 

She strips the head-headed woman in love to the core. Regarding Adler's feelings, we are bystanders watching the fire. We watched her go through fire and water and finally exchanged for a broken heart.

You stand on the bridge and watch the scenery, and the people watching the scenery look at you upstairs. You have a heart of fists, but you are not entrusted with it.

6. Miss You: A Novel by Kate Eberlen

Miss You: A Novel by Kate Eberlen 

What is love? This question seems very simple, but it also seems very complicated to investigate carefully. Perhaps, in the end, a very definite answer cannot be drawn. 

Those who haven’t seen each other for a long time will usually comfort each other with the phrase "If the two loves last for a long time, how can they be in the morning and evening"; those who don’t feel too much together every day, and occasionally have to partake. 

I complained that "the world lasts for a long time, and this hate lasts forever."...not to mention, like Kate Eberion’s "Miss You" in the novel "Miss You", the two young people like Tess and Gus What kind of words should be used to "suffice it in a word" for the love in the time; even if it is replaced by Tess and Gus themselves, I am afraid they can't explain all this.

Why not use the simplest two words "missing you" to summarize it. These two words don't seem to have such deep emotions, but they have a kind of power that penetrates time and space, which lasts for a long time but remains consistent. 

The loyalty is here, and the true love is here too only loving your stalwart body, but also the position you insist on and the land under your feet!

Kate Eberlein's "Miss You" is a book destined to talk about love, but it is more about how to face the difficulties in life, how to get out of the cage that you have constructed, and how to reconcile after confronting the people around you. 

Just as Tess finally let go of not going to college because of his sister, Gus finally walked out of the influence of his brother's death on him. 

Despite all kinds of betrayal and derailment, Tess eventually forgave her ex-boyfriend and girlfriend. Although she was not willing to take her daughter away from her ex-wife, Gus was finally able to give up the work she had never wanted to do and start a new attempt.

In the sixteen years, they have missed, two seemingly parallel and disjoint lines have spawned many branches, which have been converging and missing, and finally entangled together.

All encounters in this world are reunions after a long time.

7. Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes 

It tells a love story that is unimaginable for ordinary people, and it is far-reaching and profound. The heroes and heroines seem to be completely out of sync, but they went from being unfamiliar to an acquaintance and their lives were completely changed because they intruded on each other. 

The story is laughable and tearful to read. Its warm and upward power is both affectionate and inspirational, and it is beautiful and heartbreaking. The humanistic feelings in the book are also embarrassing and gratifying.

I want you to be well. Some seemingly quiet words, a seemingly warm story, but when you plan to leave or hide your face in contemplation, in the bottom of your heart, gently put a sharp knife.

You have to believe that in this world, there will really be such a person who will treat you well for free.

Before I met you, I was Clark, a small-town girl who carried the burden of family and made a living. She had never seen mountains or rivers, never watched the sea, never heard a concert, never experienced diving, Paris is just in my imagination. , No, it’s Paris that I haven’t even thought about...

Before I met you, I was Will, a seriously ill, disabled teenager with no dignity, betrayed by his girlfriend, tortured by illness, and had many unfinished dreams, including bungee jumping, and skydiving. However, I just want to end myself...

Six months of getting along, one hundred and eight days and nights, is incomparable for many years of life. Clark became confident, began to have dreams, and experienced a more exciting world, while Will began to become optimistic and began to show a smile. Discover the beauty of life.

However, the pain is still there. Will still choose to use euthanasia to end his pain. Clark said even if you are not there, I will always love you here.

The end of Will's life cannot prevent the eternity of Clark's love.

In the dark, it has its own arrangement, all encounters will leave traces, engraved in the heart, or accompany a lifetime. 

We meet a lot of people in our lives. Some make you happy, some make you sad, some make you confident, and some make you silent. 

No matter which kind, it is growth. This book reminds me of some important people and important things in my past life.

8. The World of Yesterday by Stefan Zweig

The World of Yesterday by Stefan Zweig 

After graduating from Ludwig University, he worked in the factory of Privy Advisor G. His talent and diligence won the favor and appreciation of the privy adviser. 

He first suggested that Ludwig move into his villa so that he could be on call and lean on as a confidant. 

Unexpectedly, he was rejected by the arrogant Ludwig. Soon, the boss's condition worsened and he had to stay in bed for a long time. 

He once again asked to hire a young man as a personal secretary and move into his villa. For his own future, Ludwig reluctantly agreed. 

He stepped into the boss's house and saw his wife for the first time. The beautiful, noble kind, and honest wife made him feel like a spring breeze, and a passionate love developed between the two. 

At this moment, the boss sent Ludwig to Mexico to set up a branch factory. In a foreign country, he lived for a year and finally came to the moment of returning home. Unexpectedly, when the First World War broke out, the two people were blocked and separated. 

The end of the war was far away, and Ludwig could not bear the loneliness, of marrying a wife and having children on the other side of the ocean. 

However, the battle that had lasted for four years ended suddenly. Ludwig's heart was not at peace again. He resumed contact with his wife. 

He learned that the privy counselor had passed away and his wife was safe, so he took the opportunity of returning home from a business trip. He visited his wife and asked her to visit Heidelberg again. 

However, after experiencing the initial excitement of the reunion, they suddenly discovered that there seemed to be an invisible wall between each other, and they could never find the good things in the past.

A brief comment on the list
  • Can love go through all the trials?
  • The answer is: no
  • The only thing that can't go back in memory,
  • But memory will also accompany us through the journey of a lifetime.

9. The Foam Of Days by Bens Boris Vian

The Foam Of Days by Bens Boris Vian

This is a ridiculous and unbelievable story, and this is another touching and tear-jerking story. Klein and Chloe fell in love, but Kloe got an incurable disease shortly after his marriage—a "water lily" grew on his chest. Sick loves Alice but is arrested for stealing a book. 

Alice was so angry that Sick indulged in Jean Sol and set fire to the bookstore and was buried in the flames. Nicholas and Isis are improper, and lovers will never get married.

A brief comment on the list
  • There are many ways to love,
  • But the one that suits you is the best
  • There are only two things in this world that last forever,
  • That is to talk about love with beautiful girls in various ways,
  • And the music of the New Orleans School or the Duke of Ellington,
  • Everything else should disappear,
  • Because everything else is ugly.

10. The Museum of Innocence by Orhan Pamuk

The Museum of Innocence by Orhan Pamuk 

A love story. It's not just about love.

Istanbul, in 1975, Kemal, a 30-year-old young man who was married, fell in love with his poor relative, the 18-year-old pure and beautiful girl Fusong. 

But the love between the two came and went, Kemal wanted to find his lover's heart, and it had been eight years since then, but it was still too late...

Everything about Kemal Afsong, everything that Afsund loved, and even touched. The infatuated, sad man collects all the objects that his sweetheart has touched, such as salt shakers, puppy decorations, thimbles, pins, hairpins, ashtrays, earrings, playing cards, keys, fans, perfume bottles, handkerchiefs, brooches... and even 4213 cigarette butts. 

Kemal completed 1743 museums in fifteen years and created a unique "Museum of Innocence". All the objects are regarded as treasures of this love museum to commemorate his lost love.

Relying on Kemal’s passion, Pamuk has a wise meditation on time, desire, and possession, which is rich in the details and meaning of the author’s young life city: domestic brands, movie stars, streets, and classes.

The intricate social relationship between tradition and modernity. It seems that the Museum of Innocence is not commemorating Fusong but Istanbul.

A brief comment on the list
  • If there is no way to possess you,
  • Then collect all the things you have used.
  • After you leave,
  • The world became a huge museum for me.

Conclusion

Based on reality is the soil for literary creation, and the source and inspiration of romanticism come from reality, not divorced from reality.

Enthusiastic and unrestrained language romanticism's literal characteristics of expressing emotions. The words and sentences of historical romantic literature are extremely sophisticated and strive for perfection. 

Because of this characteristic, many works of historical romantic literature have become representative works of "aestheticism".

Brilliant and colorful imagination historical romantic literature often uses metaphors and symbols in image creation.

Above I share a few award-winning historical romance novels. 

For me, it is not only the period romance novels but also a spiritual force, a memory of the past.
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