Five Cosy Books to Read in the Autumn

This week marks the autumn equinox, and I’m so looking forward to this season of ‘mists and mellow fruitfulness.’ I love to get out for walks at this time of year; the bitter cold of winter is still a few months off, and the Yorkshire landscape is filled with a rich, warm palette of purple heather, amber leaves and scarlet rose-hips. As the evenings grow longer, with the first breath of frost in the air, nothing beats snuggling up in my favourite armchair, well wrapped up in a wool blanket, and with a good book to hand. Here are five suggestions for cosy autumnal reads:

1/ The Fortnight in September* by R. C. Sherriff

This quiet, tender novel by R. C. Sherriff is a brilliant transitional read from summer to early autumn. Very little action takes place: an ordinary, lower-middle-class family enjoy their annual two week holiday by the sea, and the rhythm of the book matches the typical pace of a holiday: the anticipation, arrival and first few days stretch long and relaxed, taking up the first half of the novel, and with increasing speed the rest of the holiday flashes by, the book ending as the family’s last ‘goodbyes’ are said to their landlady. The change in season is marked by the increasingly dark evenings, illuminated by the bright lights of the pier at Bognor Regis: one of the pleasures of a September holiday lies in that final hour of darkness, beneath the lights of the promenade, and the blaze of the pier. Although the plot is minimal, it is Sherriff’s skill in writing sympathetic, recognisable characters, with the small anxieties and delights that are common to so many of us, that makes this book such a timeless read.

First published in 1931, the novel was republished by Persephone books in both their grey and classic editions. Alongside my mother (who is also a huge fan of the book), I hosted a book club episode about The Fortnight in September on my YouTube channel in September 2020, for those who would like to learn more (although there are spoilers in our discussion).

2/ Heaven to Betsy by Maud Hart Lovelace

Every autumn, I get the urge to watch You’ve Got Mail, which is one of my favourite films and is a beautiful love letter to New York, autumn, independent bookshops and old-fashioned romance. Another reason I love You’ve Got Mail is because its heroine, children’s bookshop owner Kathleen Kelly, references the Betsy-Tacy books by Maud Hart Lovelace. This children’s series is similar to L M Montgomery’s Anne books in that it charts the life of its heroine, Betsy Ray (as well as her best friends, Tacy and Tib), from girlhood through to early womanhood and marriage. 

Set in small town Minnesota at the turn of the twentieth century, the Betsy-Tacy books are semi-autobiographical and are filled with the heart-warming joys of friendship, community and a  happy home life. The first four books in the series are for young readers, but from the fifth book, Heaven to Betsy, the stories are written with older readers in mind. Heaven to Betsy marks the start of Betsy’s highschool career, and I love to reread this book, as well as the other highschool stories, in the spirit of ‘back-to-school’ that pervades early September.

3/ Plowmen’s Clocks by Alison Uttley

Alison Uttley is one of my most-admired nature writers, and this collection of her essays on home, hearth and the natural world is one I look forward to pulling off my shelf whenever I’m in the mood for a short read. A stand-out essay is ‘Autumn,’ which makes this volume particularly appropriate for this time of year. Uttley had a wonderful eye for detail, delighting in finding the beautiful and extraordinary in everyday objects and familiar landscapes. ‘Autumn’ shows off her brilliant turn of phrase; in the essay, she describes fallen chestnuts as resembling ‘green hedgehogs,’ and I love this description of the colours of autumn:

Soon, as the autumn colours spread, the rose leaves fall, leaving the hips like jewels on the bare spiny branches, the blackberry sprays will curve in semi-circles of crimson and purple leaves, and the maple will turn chrome yellow, while the silver birches flutter their pale gold against the frosty blue sky.

4/ The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna

This sweet, light-hearted romance is a fun book to pick up around Halloween and immerse yourself in all things magical, from spell-enhanced teas to the enchantment of true love. Mika Moon goes against the understood rule that witches should live separate lives when she agrees to tutor three very young witches in a rambling old house in Norfolk. Mika soon learns that both she and her charges are in danger of attracting too much undesirable attention, but Mika’s longing to be part of a family overrules her caution. As Mika becomes increasingly attracted to James, the devastatingly good-looking (if rather grumpy) librarian at the Norfolk house, she learns that secrets have been kept from her, with (almost) disastrous consequences. If you’re a fan of Practical Magic, then I think you’ll particularly enjoy the descriptions of Mika’s wonderful country home, complete with cosy kitchen, library and attic bedroom.

5/ Halloween Party by Agatha Christie

I do love to return to my favourite Golden Age mysteries as part of my planned Fall reading, and Halloween Party will always have a special place in my heart, as it was the first Christie I read, and it features a young girl called Miranda. In this mystery, Hercule Poirot becomes involved in mysterious village affairs when a teenaged girl is murdered at a Halloween party, hours after she boasted about having witnessed a murder several years ago. Agatha Christie goes into a lot of interesting detail about the Halloween party, with descriptions of traditional English games and old superstitions, so this is of course an obvious choice for late October. I especially like this Poirot mystery as it features Ariadne Oliver, the somewhat batty, highly successful mystery writer who is very much a tongue-in-cheek nod to Christie herself.

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