Silsden-based author Rebecca Ryan's new book The Philosophy of Love

“I always knew that I wanted to write stories about ordinary people, that is what I find really interesting – people’s everyday lives,” says Ryan who lives in Silsden and for many years was a history teacher but is now writing full-time, while also looking after her three young children. “The books I am drawn to as a reader are about ordinary people because they make you feel less lonely. And I knew I wanted to write about love. Book one was already about love and also about grief – but they are two sides of the same coin. So, I wanted to write about love – and in a setting that’s not traditionally associated with great romantic stories.”

The Philosophy of Love is set in the North-East where Ryan was born and raised. “I grew up in Hartlepool and possibly feel a bit guilty about leaving it as soon as I could when I was 18, but I thought the North-east was deserving of a love story,” she says. “All of us spend our lives searching for love in one way or another and trying to work out what is and isn’t love.”

The main character of the novel, which is told in the first person, is Alice King. She has just been through a difficult break-up with her boyfriend of ten years and is back living with her parents in the former mining village of Easington near Durham. She is feeling down and trying to figure out what to do next. Then she meets an old school rival, Luke Priestley. “He is an evolutionary scientist at Durham University and she is a failed philosophy student, she dropped out of university; she believes in romantic love and he doesn’t,” explains Ryan. “He thinks love can be measured and explained whereas Alice thinks it is more complicated than that.”

The two decide to make a bet – they will both venture back into dating and if one of them falls in love within six months, Alice wins the bet, if not Luke wins. “But the book is not just about romantic love,” says Ryan. “It is about friendship and platonic love and family love; those are all important too. I really believe if you are looking for a meaning in life, then love is it, but it doesn’t have to be romantic love.”

Ryan began working on the book back in 2021. “At that time, I had a four-year-old who I was home schooling, a two-year-old and a three-month old baby and I thought ‘maybe this is not the time’ but I was so keen I wanted to crack on – it took me a full year to have a draft that worked,” she says. “I feel like this is the book that really taught me how to be an author.”

The response to Ryan’s first book was hugely positive. “It was lovely and surprising,” she says. “I get messages all the time from people saying ‘I am grieving and this is what it feels like’ and I appreciate those messages so much. These are universal human experiences and when people read that it taps into our common humanity. In a world where we are constantly being told how different we are, it is nice to be reminded that we are all in many ways the same. We are all human.”

Ryan hopes people will enjoy her new book and that it might encourage them to think about love in all its various guises. “I think we can get drawn into the Hollywood version of romance and that can be misleading,” she says. “Love doesn’t have to be all fireworks and roses and grand gestures. True love can be small and quiet, peaceful and content, and that’s ok.”

The Philosophy of Love, is published by Simon & Schuster on February 1. Rebecca Ryan will be signing copies of her book at the Grove Bookshop, Ilkley on January 31 at 7.30pm and at Waterstones, Leeds on February 15 at 6.30pm.