10 COZY CLASSIC BOOKS TO READ THIS AUTUMN

1. Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery

It was in this 1908 novel that L.M. Montgomery gave the world the famous Anne Shirley quote "I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.” If this isn’t reason enough to read this book, L.M. Montgomery’s delightful tale will have you dreaming of Green Gables farm.

2. Emily of New Moon by Lucy Maud Montgomery

Given that the peak of the apple season in the Northern Hemisphere is in September and October, Emily of New Moon is a perfect book to match the season. The protagonist, Emily Starr is sent to live with her aunts at New Moon Farm, renowned for its apple orchards.

3. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Set in the 1860s Little Women tells of the ever-changing lives of four sisters, ebbing and flowing, much like the seasons do. The story is set in Massachusetts and is a perfect read for you if your ideal autumnal destination is a small New England town.

4. The Woodlanders by Thomas Hardy

“He Looked and smelt like Autumn's very brother, his face being sunburnt to wheat-colour, his eyes blue as corn-flowers, his sleeves and leggings dyed with fruit-stains, his hands clammy with the sweet juice of apples, his hat sprinkled with pips, and everywhere about him the sweet atmosphere of cider which at its first return each season has such an indescribable fascination for those who have been born and bred among the orchards.”

Hardy writes like an impressionist painter paints. This novel has all the autumn vibes: a country-girl protagonist, a nature-loving woodsman, and forests!

5. Stoner by John Williams

Stoner is a profound read with academic themes; for many the fall season marks the return to the classroom. This profound novel follows the life of William Stoner, who, after becoming interested in literature, enrolls in a Bachelor of Arts program and goes on to become a scholar and a dedicated teacher.

6. Persuasion by Jane Austen

While most of Austen’s novels are reminiscent of warmer seasons, Persuasion opens in the fall season. Austen also cleverly uses ‘fall’ as a metaphor, weaving autumnal imagery with complex meanings. Anne Elliot is perhaps one of Austen’s most relatable protagonists and Captain Wentworth’s love letter is sure to warm anyone’s heart.

7. Quarter in Autumn by Barbara Pym

Pym’s subtle novel is set in 1970s London, and follows four colleagues, all are in their sixties, or their autumn years, as they deal with loneliness in the face of approaching retirements. This quote from Quarter in Autumn is simply beautiful;

“The autumn of life is not a season to lament, but rather an invitation to find beauty in the simplicity of survival.”

8. The Return of The Native by Thomas Hardy

We tend to be more mindful of nature during the Autumn season as we observe the changing colours in the trees and the drying up of leaves. Hardy’s works are overall great reads for nature lovers as he describes rural nature like no other author. In The Return of the Native Hardy expands on the fictitious setting of Edgon Heath and makes it almost a character in itself; “a wild face,” “a vague stretch of remoteness,” able to “intensify the opacity of a moonless night.” The story is set in this rough Heath and tells the alluring tale of the unhappy marriage between Eustacia Vye, a woman with romantic illusions and Clym Yeobright, an Edgon Heath native newly returned from Paris.

9. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë

It is on a day in autumn that the protagonist of The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Helen Graham, a widow and young mother, moves into the gloomy, moorland mansion of Wildfell Hall with her five-year-old son. Of all the villagers Gilbert Markham is immensely intrigued by Helen Graham. The secrets of her disastrous marriage are revealed when she allows Gilbert to read her diary.

10. Villette by Charlotte Brontë

Our protagonist, Lucy Snowe, has a tragic past and thus flees England to become an instructor in a French boarding school in the town of Villette, set in the fictional French-speaking kingdom of Labassecour. Not only is this the story of an English teacher at a girl’s school, but it is also one of the author’s most complex books, rich in psychological realism, with hints of Gothic romance. Oh, and it’s a perfect subtle Halloween read — that is if you consider ghost stories to be subtle.