They are incredibly poor and must pinch every penny, but they are happy with each other. They are married, and for the next three years, Jenny supports Oliver as he attends Harvard Law School. Oliver takes this as a sign and proposes to Jenny. After meeting Jenny, Oliver's father declares that if Oliver marries her, he will be cut off from the family fortune. He feels crushed by his father's many accomplishments and does not know how to make his own mark on the family name.

She sees right away that Oliver does not get along with his father. She sees through him in ways no one has before, and thus, he can only be real with her.Įventually, the relationship becomes serious enough that Oliver takes Jenny home to meet his parents. Jenny is not like other girls, and Oliver finds that he is afraid to use his typical playboy persona on her. Despite the fact that they are opposites, their attraction is undeniable, yet they desperately try to convince themselves that they are not falling in love. Oliver next invites Jenny to come to watch his hockey game. They spend the time insulting each other, yet also flirting. He invites the girl, Jennifer Cavilleri, the daughter of a working-class Rhode Island family, out for coffee under the pretense of being able to study the book he needs.

He approaches the clerk on duty for help finding a book, but she simply insults him, calling him a 'preppie.' He returns the insult, calling her a 'cliffie,' despite the fact that he is attracted to her beautiful brown eyes and long legs. He is studying in the library at the school's Radcliffe campus because it is quieter and, perhaps most importantly, has more girls there. Now, in his senior year at Harvard, he is heir to his family's fortune and will soon be heading off to Harvard Law School. The movie adaptation, released in December 1970, is still one of the highest grossing films of all time. The book was released on Valentine's Day that year, and it became the bestselling fiction book of 1970. Segal originally penned the tale as a screenplay that was picked up by Paramount Pictures, but the company requested that he also write a novel adaptation. Set in contemporary Northeast America, Love Story (1970), a romance novel by Erich Segal, follows the trials and tribulations of a young couple's ill-fated relationship.

Love Story by Erich Segal