Love at first sight: A reading list

Editor’s note: Love amid battles for social justice and ideological integrity. Queer romance in 18th century Lucknow. Unrequited feelings and forbidden romances. In this wonderful, wide-ranging list, writer and translator Sneha Pathak shines the spotlight on 10 great love stories by Indian authors, where the magic of this most mercurial of feelings comes alive via the written word. 

Written by: Sneha Pathak

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Love stories in film will always remain tantalising and seductive—a hero gently strumming a guitar and the heroine running toward him with her dupatta floating. A classic. But great romances on the page can pierce the soul. We all yearn for the kind of love we read in books: immersive, memorable, timeless. Below is a list of love stories by Indian authors that capture that unfathomable feeling of love. 

Farewell Song (1929) by Rabindranath Tagore

Tagore’s Sesher Kobita—translated as Farewell Song—is a startlingly modern romance. The novel, blending prose with poetry, takes us through the story of Labanya and Amit, both young and in love in Shillong. Dissections of Bengal’s literary circuit—and, indeed, the relevance of Tagore’s own writings—are entwined with an off-beat romance between a couple insistent on doing things their way. Farewell Song is exquisitely written and translated, and remains a testament to Tagore’s gifts as an author and his fine understanding of human nature. 

Once Upon a Summer (2025) by Manjul Bajaj

Once Upon a Summer is a colonial romance spread across eras and geographies. From the stunning locales of Nainital in 1906, Manjul Bajaj takes the readers across the world, all the way to New York five decades later. In a pre-Independence India, Madeline, a young British girl, falls in love with Azeem, a syce working for her father. Their worlds couldn’t be more apart; this romance seems doomed from the start. Interspersed with their story are the memories of Alfred Allye, a New York publisher who, five decades later, is stuck clinging to the memories of his wife, Rose. The two tales run in sync and Bajaj guides the reader from one story to the other, as we discover the deep connection between these two parallel narratives.

Kurinji Malar (1960) by Na Parthasarathy

Kurinji Malar is said to be Na Parthasarathy’s finest work. This is a saga set in Madurai and its surrounding areas, set in a period after India’s Independence. Idealism and a thirst for social upliftment in a young India serve as ideological foundations running alongside the love story of its protagonists, Poorani and Aravindan. They both display a rare strength of mind in their commitment to their goals and ideals, even as they fall in love. The characters and geography of the space both come alive in Parthasarthy’s writing, and this remains an unforgettable love story that has, in fact, also been adapted for the big screen. 

What Will People Think? (2024) by Vedashree Khambete-Sharma

Think Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. In this desi avatar of the classic, Khambete-Sharma adapts the love story to a late 1970s Maharashtrian household. It’s a delight to see Ila Bendre fend off her mother’s incessant attempts to marry her, even as her sister Lathika elopes, ruining the family’s reputation. All the beloved characters from Austen’s timeless work feature here (Mr. Darcy included!), each of them quintessentially Indian in their countenance, even as they retain their characteristics from the original.  This is a must-read for fans of Austen: a commendable attempt at transporting her iconic characters into a desi context.

For the Love of Apricots (2025) by Madhulika Liddle

Forty-year-old Nandini lives with her father, in the hills of Mukteshwar, Uttarakhand. She runs a women’s co-operative making jams and pickles, and guards her co-operative—and her independence—zealously. That is, until Vikas Joshi enters the picture: shy, somewhat reticent, and completely clueless about managing the orchard he has inherited. They meet and, in fact, there’s no spark there. Madhulika Liddle’s sweet and delightful novel then does the work of building their romance as, over time, they decide to give love another chance. That it’s perhaps not that wild an idea. For the Love of Apricots is not a fiery romance of the young but a gentle love story where the antagonists lie not outside, but within the characters themselves.

Ram C/O Anandhi (2020) by Akhil P Dharmajan

Originally written in Malayalam and translated into English, Ram C/O Anandhi is the story of Ram, an aspiring film-maker from Alleppey who moves to Chennai. There, he meets Anandhi, a free-spirited, independent woman, and they fall in love. But not at once. 

The novel plays on the time-honoured trope of enemies-to-lovers, and sets the story firmly in a contemporary Indian milieu. With its believable characters, relatable personal and social situations, and a story full of warmth and a feel-good energy, Ram C/O Anandhi is perfect for when you want to distance yourself from the world around and immerse yourself in a cosy love story.

Memory of Light (2020) by Ruth Vanita

Memory of Light is a historical romance set in Lucknow of the late 18th century. The world of Nafis Bai and Chapla Bai, two young courtesans who fall in love, is presented to the reader in a way that remains tender, poetic, evocative. The era, and the culture of the time, play a big role here, as the story moves forward in song and poetry. The reader gets a glimpse of the socio-cultural milieu of the time, and we experience an unfamiliar world. Memory of Light by Ruth Vanita shows how heteronormative love wasn’t the only accepted norm in this bygone era.

Bride in the Hills (2024) by Kuvempu

Considered Kuvempu’s magnum opus, Bride in the Hills is set in the lush green hills of Malnad in the Western Ghats and marries stories of love with social critique and commentary. The novel has three love stories at its centre, each of which also serves to bring social injustices, especially the caste system, to light. Envisioned and written at an epic scale, Bride in the Hills captures the beauty of its setting and is populated with characters who have the power to stay with the reader long after the book is over. 

My Kind of Girl (2025) by Buddhadeva Bose

Buddhadeva Bose’s My Kind of Girl is an old school romance: a novella where four strangers brought together by a delayed train pass their night reminiscing about their first loves. They have all become men of the world now, but a glimpse of a newly married couple looking for some privacy in the station is enough to send them down memory lane. Four bittersweet stories take centrestage here—sometimes fulfilled, but mostly unrequited and incomplete. Bose narrates his stories with a tenderness and simplicity, drawing readers into the world of these characters, and earns the reader’s sympathy and understanding. 

You Had Me at Annyeong! (2025) by Malini Banerjee

Malini Banerjee’s contemporary romance draws on the craze for K-drama and all things Korean in our pop culture today. When Timira Leia Marak, a PR consultant from India, goes to Seoul for work, she realises that her life has turned into a real-life K-drama. After all, her employer is the rich and handsome Baek Haneul and she cannot help but fall for him. But the course of love rarely runs smoothly, and Marak too faces many ups and downs before she can hope to achieve a happy ending. You Had Me at Annyeong! will appeal to contemporary readers and lovers of Korean pop culture and feel-good romance.

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Sneha Pathak is a freelance writer and translator. Her works have appeared in The Telegraph, Deccan Herald, Strange Horizons, and The Chakkar.