Read a Girl #34: "The Reddest Rose", Liv Strömquist

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When was the last time you were in love? Like, really in love, that hopeless-head-over-heels kind of love? I’ll give you some time to think about it.

Sometimes I feel modern life gets in the way of us falling properly in love - at least the kind of love we read about in romance novels and see on films and television. So coming across Liv Strömquist’s “The Reddest Rose: Romantic Love from the Ancient Greeks to Reality TV” was a breath of fresh air.

In this collection of well-researched, humorous comics essays, the author starts with a simple question: Why does Leonardo DiCaprio date an endless string of 20-something models? In trying to find an answer, Liv turns to philosophers, Lord Byron, Beyoncé and many others to define what makes our heart tick in the first place.

The book, which can be pre-ordered online, also makes us wonder if romantic love can survive in the consumerist and egotistical world we live in. I’m not sure of it. What do you think?

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a spectacularly sad ending

My first book, “a spectacularly sad ending”, is a collection of poetry and prose about heartbreak, loss and survival. It chronicles experiences of love, loss, abuse and grief, and is for anyone who is or ever had to mend a broken heart. It’s available as a paperback and also on Kindle. You can get it here.

🎵 This newsletter was written to the sounds of “Modern Girl”, by Sleater-Kinney.

We have a playlist with all of the music featured in our newsletters. You can listen to it on Spotify.

About me

My name is Renata and I am the Founder and Editor of Read a Girl, a platform aimed at promoting the work of women writers. My background is in journalism and I spent most of my career covering foreign affairs and travelling around looking for good stories to tell. I love reading and my favourite authors are Elena Ferrante, J.D. Salinger, Julian Barnes and Sylvia Plath.

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