Valentine’s Day is in the rearview mirror and so it’s an excellent time to explore literature that’s a little less fairytale romance, and more rugged, realistic, manic, and truthful.

The joy of being the reader and voyeur of someone else’s story is in knowing that the ‘real’ story is quite far from whatever version our always-unreliable narrators give us.

The fun is in waiting, picking up breadcrumbs of what actually happened and when it comes to relationships, the truth is always very, very far from what either party says it is.

First, we turn to Sarah Crossan’s prose novel, Here is the Beehive.

In the aftermath of an extramarital affair, we see the pair’s relationship through her memories and recollections and so see the truth of the situation, something that our mourning, dreamy heroine can’t or won’t.

The definition of ‘love’ varies wildly from person-to-person, and the ways in which we show that love are very different.

But even bearing that in mind, this writer read Maud Ventura’s My Husband in one sitting unsure if the narrator is unhinged or tragically pitiful.

Decide at your leisure! In the same vein is Zoë Heller’s Notes on a Scandal, which is not just a whip-sharp novel of youth vs age, but also a really excellent film starring Cate Blanchett and Judi Dench.

Sally Rooney might have had the nation in ugly-tears at the conclusion of Normal People, but set elsewhere in Trinity College is Belinda McKeon’s Tender. McKeon’s 19-year-olds are a little more realistic than the polished and eloquent creatures found in Sally Rooney’s universe, falling into friendships and crushes with cringing earnestness.

Prepare to be mortified as your own 19-year-old lunatic obsessions come flooding back. Megan Nolan’s Acts of Desperation is of that same generation, and there are many millennials and others who will see themselves and their mistakes, and be grateful that the lunacy and insecurity of youth is well-passed.

In the spirit of this anti-idealism Valentine’s Day column, we finish with the short novella On Chesil Beach. A toe-curling tale of a marital night gone wrong, read it through your fingers and enjoy the experience of dying inside for the happy couple.