Hey Kara, I was crunching some numbers on how often certain words pop up in novels over the last century, and I started wondering how that math reflects the changing feel of love in stories.

Yeah, I can see how the frequency and context of “love” might map onto societal shifts. If the word appears more often in upbeat, romantic contexts now than in the past, that could suggest a more optimistic view of love. But I’d need to quantify the sentiment and compare across decades to draw any firm conclusions. Still, it’s neat how a single term can serve as a data point for cultural change.

I’m looking at the density of “love” per 10,000 words over each decade, then cross‑checking with sentiment scores. Early 1900s it spikes in romance novels, but the sentiment is mostly idealistic. From the 1960s onward the frequency rises slightly, and the tone shifts toward more ambiguous or even cynical contexts. In the 2000s I see a steady, small uptick in neutral or everyday use, especially in memoirs and blogs, which might indicate that “love” is being spoken about in less grandiose, more routine ways. The data suggests a quiet, steady rise in the everyday love you mentioned, even if headlines stay focused on drama.

One book that fits that pattern perfectly is *The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society*. The story’s heartbeat is in the quiet exchanges between neighbors, in shared tea and stories, and in the small gestures that keep the community together—no grand declarations, just steady, ordinary love that ties everyone together.