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Original poster

Books set in New England autumn

32 replies

HazelnutRaspberryRoulade · 06/09/2020 10:17

Quite a specific request, but I’m craving some fiction, maybe something set on a college campus, set in the kind of turn-of-the-season, golden gentle autumns you get in New England.

Any suggestions? Smile

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slipperyeel · 15/09/2020 14:46

Brett Easton Ellis The Rules of Attraction

Courtney Sullivan tends to write books set in New England

Original poster
HazelnutRaspberryRoulade · 12/09/2020 15:15

Thank you so much for all these suggestions. So many authors I haven’t tried yet. Excited to get cracking. I’m just finishing a very easy read based in the Cornwall summer at the moment so as soon as that’s done it’ll be onto New England autumn!

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XingMing · 12/09/2020 14:28

The most recent Douglas Kennedy is largely set on New England campuses. I think DM has it at the moment, so I can't check for the title.

tripfiction · 11/09/2020 20:40

These?
www.tripfiction.com/books/leaves/

www.tripfiction.com/books/massacre-pond-mike-bowditch-4/

And Anita Shreve is always good for New England stories

Inkpaperstars · 10/09/2020 00:58

I don't know much about them but I have been meaning to look into Howard Frank Mosher's books, all set in NE Vermont I think.

Would also like to read an autumnal New England book right now.

RiotAndAlarum · 09/09/2020 17:34

Another vote for the Secret History!

Try Carol Goodman, too (NOT the Fairwick chronicles), for past-secrets gothic set in New York State/ the Hudson River valley (not quite New England, but thereabouts!)

Yarr0w · 09/09/2020 17:24

The first Inspector Gamesh by Louise Penny - Still Life is set in Autumn in fictional town of 3 Pines in Canada supposedly based on a town just above Vermont. They tend to be written in seasonal order. I’m out of sync though, on number 4 which is set in summer.😩

WildCherryBlossom · 09/09/2020 10:12

Yes @Missanneshirley good call on Elizabeth Strout. I love her. I've never heard of Anita Shreeve so I'll look her up.

pallisers · 08/09/2020 23:57

no it wasn't creepy or grooming. noooo I re-read it recently it is still a bright sparkling read about an intelligent, funny, courageous young woman.

1WildTeaParty · 08/09/2020 23:37

Horrified to have to rethink Daddy-long-legs!

That is not how I read it first time. She seemed clever-confident- and in a world of opportunity... but I suppose she was young and in vulnerable situation.

Did he groom her though?

Wasn't it True Love?

Oh no! I hate it if childhood favourites turn out to be creepy 🙁.

pallisers · 08/09/2020 23:07

I can’t read Daddy-Long-Legs now without wincing. It’s basically an extended paean to grooming a vulnerable child.

Is it? She is 18 and heading off to college when they start a correspondance. I wouldn't have called her a vulnerable child at all - in fact I thought that was the point of the whole thing - she was intelligent and outspoken and willing to advocate for and then engage in all the opportunities college gave her. The title is creepy but I honestly don't get any vibe of grooming from the book at all. Just a young woman getting an education and then meeting the man who is funding it (without knowing it) and the two of them falling for each other. He is not that much older than her is he?

I realise I may be overthinking this :) I do like that book though.

Another vote for Prep and The Blue Castle. I think Thomas Cook writes some good stuff too.

Missanneshirley · 08/09/2020 22:57

Oh depends if you can face it, but Jodi Picoult books are often set there..I know she's very marmite...

Missanneshirley · 08/09/2020 22:54

Anne Tyler (altho i think more mid state?)
John Irving
Elizabeth Strout
Anita Shreeve

I spent time in New England too and LOVE that type of book!

Not strictly NE but similar vibe...
Carol Shields
Barbara Kingsolver

Phantom1 · 08/09/2020 22:50

New Hampshire - Peyton Place and Return To PP. Very entertaining books.

Matildatoldsuchdreadfullies · 06/09/2020 16:06

@Endlessmizzle

Very old (but amazing) Daddy Long Legs?

The Blue Castle is Canada but v similar autumnal/winter vibes.

Franny and Zooey?

I can’t read Daddy-Long-Legs now without wincing. It’s basically an extended paean to grooming a vulnerable child.

I’d stick with A Secret History. All the characters are horrible, but at least they’re meant to be.

GalesThisMorning · 06/09/2020 15:59

The bridges of Madison county? I kind of remember that as being autumnal!

GalesThisMorning · 06/09/2020 15:58

John Irving's the cider house rules should fit the bill. Maybe we were the mulvaneys by joyce Carol oates, although it is a dark read rather than a cosy one.

papounet · 06/09/2020 15:53

Boarding school rather than college campus, but the brilliant Prep, by Curtis Sittenfeld, otherwise fills the brief.

dotty12345 · 06/09/2020 15:48

Freya North wrote a book called Polly or Sally where a school teacher does a swap with a teacher in New England. (chick lit)

Original poster
HazelnutRaspberryRoulade · 06/09/2020 15:28

Anne Tyler is a great recommendation, thank you. I hadn’t heard of her but she sounds right up my street.

I remember reading a lot of Maeve Binchey when I was about 17, haven’t read anything by her for years! Another one I’ll have to look up again, thank you Smile

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Dozer · 06/09/2020 15:06

Lovely thread! Haven’t read most of the recommendations.

Not US but Ireland for the soothing / university vibe Maeve Binchy’s Circle of Friends is a lovely story.

WildCherryBlossom · 06/09/2020 15:03

Have you read any Anne Tyler? She's Baltimore rather than New England but extremely good. I've enjoyed everything I have read by her.

Original poster
HazelnutRaspberryRoulade · 06/09/2020 14:04

Ooh thanks Dance, just had a little look and they do sound soothing, and free on kindle as well so definitely worth a try!

Agree Cosmopolitan, I love films in that setting too.

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cosmopolitanplease · 06/09/2020 13:26

Ooh I would be interested in this setting too! I also love films set in autumnal New England. Smile

DancelikeEmmaGoldman · 06/09/2020 13:18

Melanie Lageschulte wrote a series of books set in Iowa (not New England, but seasonal) about a woman who buys a farm in a small town. They’re slight books and nothing of great note happens, but I found them very soothing. If you’re feeling a little fractured, they’re worth a try.