From a shared English lecture to a chance encounter at a Silent Book Club, literature has been the catalyst for romance for these four couples. Their stories, inspired by the recent revelation that Dua Lipa and Callum Turner bonded over a shared novel, show that love can indeed be found between the pages.
Andy and Lisa: A University English Lit Romance
Andy Poplar and Lisa Oakley met in the University of Sheffield English literature class of 1995, which had around 60 women and only seven men. They didn't connect until a night out at the student union in their second year. “An intellectual, attractive male who likes books – what was there not to like?” says Lisa. “Given the ratio I feel I did very well.”
They bonded over shared lectures, including Modern British literature on Friday mornings. Andy recalls staying over at Lisa's and arriving together, which initially raised eyebrows. Lisa laughs about feeling pressure to sound profound in seminars when Andy was present. They started collecting books together early on, buying each other Bloomsbury classics for special occasions with inscriptions, dreaming of one day having a house with a shelf full of them. That library now resides in their hallway.
They got engaged at Tiffany's as a nod to Truman Capote, have a cat named Orwell, and their 17-year-old son plans to study English at university. “We’re surrounded by books,” says Lisa. “Even now, after being together for ever, we talk about the literature that we are enjoying over a glass of wine.” While they don't always read the same genres now, both loved Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin. Lisa is head of English at a school, and Andy etches words on glass. For Lisa's 50th, he gave her a 1920s mirror inscribed with an F. Scott Fitzgerald quote about the universality of literary longings.
Millie and Lois: Silent Book Club Sparks
Millie Smith-Clare and Lois Glithero met in February 2025 at the Norwich branch of Silent Book Club, a global initiative where attendees read together. “It is called the Silent Book Club,” says Millie, “but we meet up at a cafe, and it has become a running joke for the baristas there that we’re not very silent.”
Millie, who works in PR, brought a queer book, Mary, or the Birth of Frankenstein by Anne Eekhout. “I remember Lois leaning over the table and saying, ‘Oh, I love that one’. Instantly I was like, ‘Oh, she’s very attractive’,” Millie recalls. They later attended a poetry reading with other club members, marking the start of their relationship.
Books remain central. They read together, including Frankenstein and The Great Gatsby, and are currently reading all the Moomin stories in order of seasons. “Because we have a long distance relationship, we record them as audiobooks for each other,” says Millie. They exchange books on Christmas Eve, inspired by the Icelandic tradition of jolabokaflod. They still attend the book club when in Norwich, and are the only official couple so far. “We are the smug ones,” Millie says.
Andy and Sapna: A Match Made by 'Yes Man'
In December 2009, Andy Pieroux, an IT consultant, spotted Sapna Pieroux on match.com. Her profile mentioned her favourite book was Yes Man by Danny Wallace. “I thought, ‘this is an easy win’,” says Andy. Sapna had embraced the book's philosophy after a breakup, saying yes to everything for a year, including festivals, travel, pole dancing, and skiing.
Andy messaged with the subject line “Please Say Yes”, which impressed Sapna because he had read her profile. She had also mentioned dreading the film adaptation starring Jim Carrey, preferring Simon Pegg. Andy agreed, and they decided to see the movie together, but Sapna insisted on a first date where they could talk. Andy suggested ice sculpting at the Natural History Museum, but before that, they discovered Danny Wallace was giving a talk about his latest book, Friends Like These. They met there, then went for a Chinese meal and shared a kiss.
They later did the ice sculpting, made a penguin, and saw the film on their third date. “We were right about it – I didn’t like it,” says Sapna. After drinks, Andy asked her to be his girlfriend. “The answer was obviously yes,” she says. They married and now live in west London.
Sam and Clíodhna: A Book Talk Meet-Cute
Clíodhna Conboye and Sam Fern met at a sparsely attended book talk at Waterstones Covent Garden in London. Clíodhna sat near Sam, thinking he looked friendly. She took out her book, Can’t We All Be Feminists?, and Sam asked about it. She later bumped her head and gave him permission to laugh. They chatted during the talk and discussed future events. When Sam's brother arrived, Clíodhna was talking to someone else.
Sam spent a month debating whether to attend another talk Clíodhna mentioned. He decided to go, arriving early and making himself visible. “I went up to him and said, ‘Can I sit next to you?’ and he looked at me in absolute horror,” says Clíodhna. Sam was startled, thinking he had seen her elsewhere. They talked all night and discovered a mutual love for The Edge Chronicles series. “When I was reading that series when I was about 10, I didn’t know anyone else who was into them,” says Clíodhna. “So it was cool that he liked these books that were a huge thing to me.”
They attended three book events a week for a month and soon became a couple. They now live in Edinburgh, run a book club, and Sam has published two children's books, both dedicated to Clíodhna. “I read his first book before we actually got together, when we were still friends,” she says. “It was good, which was a relief.”
