K.V. Johansen
As Valentine's Day is coming up, I'm going to assume that means 'romantic couple' rather than a non-romantic partnership ...
Hmm ... my favourites would be couples where both are strongly-realized and fascinating characters each with their own story, where the stories intersect and go on together. You don't feel that the characters reaching the point of pairing up is the conclusion, or the reason for the story existing, but a development that leads on to something more.
Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane would be one. Their relationship develops so plausibly over time (from Strong Poison to Gaudy Night, which is one of my favourite books, and Busman's Honeymoon), with so much psychological realism, that it stands out as something very exceptional in literary courtships. The troubles that keep them apart -- after Strong Poison -- are the very realistic ones of Harriet's state of mind after her murder trial, rather than plot-convenient obstacles tossed in to keep things exciting. The way the relationship exists in the background of books like Murder Must Advertise and Have His Carcase, too, really adds to that.
Howl and Sophie (Howl's Moving Castle, Castle in the Air, House of Many Ways) would be another couple I really enjoy, both in their courtship and in their marriage.
Cherryh's Morgaine and Vanye, too. Cook's Croaker and the Lady. Those are both series I've long loved where the couple becoming a couple is a thing that happens along the way, not the end of their journey. Ned and Julian in Scott & Griswold's two Mathey & Lynes mysteries, too, are a more recent couple I've very much enjoyed -- again, it's a journey and not an ending.
Hmm ... my favourites would be couples where both are strongly-realized and fascinating characters each with their own story, where the stories intersect and go on together. You don't feel that the characters reaching the point of pairing up is the conclusion, or the reason for the story existing, but a development that leads on to something more.
Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane would be one. Their relationship develops so plausibly over time (from Strong Poison to Gaudy Night, which is one of my favourite books, and Busman's Honeymoon), with so much psychological realism, that it stands out as something very exceptional in literary courtships. The troubles that keep them apart -- after Strong Poison -- are the very realistic ones of Harriet's state of mind after her murder trial, rather than plot-convenient obstacles tossed in to keep things exciting. The way the relationship exists in the background of books like Murder Must Advertise and Have His Carcase, too, really adds to that.
Howl and Sophie (Howl's Moving Castle, Castle in the Air, House of Many Ways) would be another couple I really enjoy, both in their courtship and in their marriage.
Cherryh's Morgaine and Vanye, too. Cook's Croaker and the Lady. Those are both series I've long loved where the couple becoming a couple is a thing that happens along the way, not the end of their journey. Ned and Julian in Scott & Griswold's two Mathey & Lynes mysteries, too, are a more recent couple I've very much enjoyed -- again, it's a journey and not an ending.
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