10 Classic Books to Read This Autumn

The rain has finally returned to St Andrews after an uncharacteristically warm start to September, and tomorrow is the autumnal equinox, which means it's high time to start your autumn reading list if you haven't already. One of my favourite things about studying English literature was that most of my work amounted to curling up on the couch and devouring several books per week, and then writing about them -- mmm, the dream.

(Cue Rory Gilmore: "I can't believe we get to sit around and talk about books and get graded!")

Now that I'm no longer a student, I'm finding joy in reading whatever my heart desires. Nevertheless, there is something deliciously autumnal about a reading list. So, this autumn, cosy up with a big blanket and a steaming cup of tea, and treat yourself to these autumnal classics:

1. The Complete Stories and Poems, Edgar Allan Poe

"During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens, I had been passing alone, on horseback, through a singularly dreary tract of country..."

Nothing conjures up memories of my favourite high school English class quite like reading Edgar Allan Poe. While "The Raven", "The Tell-Tale Heart", and "The Cask of Amontillado" (and many others) are all horror classics, my favourite is "The Fall of the House of Usher" for all its gothic, haunted house glory.

2. Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë

"You said I killed you—haunt me, then! Be with me always—take any form—drive me mad! only do not leave me in this abyss, where I cannot find you!"

Picture this: you are a chambermaid, and you spend your days cleaning a dilapidated old mansion somewhere in the Yorkshire Moors in the late eighteenth century. The house has a new owner, who asks your boss what's up with the creepy neighbours. She settles in to tell him the best neighbourhood gossip, and you eavesdrop as the wind rattles through the thin walls and you light a fire in the fireplace. Some of the things she says are hauntingly beautiful, but most are just insane. The neighbours are screwed up beyond belief. You can't tell if she's being truthful about everything. You don't know what brought the new owner to this part of the country. It's possible the moors are haunted, but you can't be sure. That's what reading this book is like.

3. Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson

“Good and evil are so close as to be chained together in the soul.”

A classic short read about the duality of human nature and the dangers of playing god, this novella is sure to put you in the mood for longer nights. The story supposedly takes place in London, but paints a more accurate picture of Victorian Edinburgh, which Robert Louis Stevenson, who was born and raised in Edinburgh, would have been familiar with. It is said that Stevenson was inspired by another famous Edinburgh man, Deacon Brodie, who lived a double life as a respected gentleman and a criminal.

4. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Washington Irving

“It was, as I have said, a fine autumnal day, the sky was clear and serene, and nature wore that rich and golden livery which we always associate with the idea of abundance.”

For those who have yet to stumble upon this classic short story, it may surprise you to learn that Ichabod Crane's encounter with the Headless Horseman is more cosy and funny than creepy; the gentle scare makes it the perfect tale to take you from September to October.

5. Of One Blood, Pauline Hopkins

"No man can draw the dividing line between the two races, for they are both of one blood!"

An afrofuturist novel with gothic elements, Of One Blood is routinely left out of autumn reading lists despite the fact that it ticks many of the desirable boxes: murder, ghosts, betrayal, secret identities, and ancient prophecies, not to mention mesmerism, hidden cities, and a surplus of family trauma. Originally published in The Coloured American Magazine, the novel follows Reuel, a mixed-race American, as he falls in love, travels to Nubia in search of hidden treasure, and grapples with his racial and cultural identity through the lens of the much more fantastic.

6. Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier

"Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again."

Since Rebecca was first published, writers everywhere have despaired at the impossibility of crafting an opening line more perfect than this one. This psychological thriller follows an unnamed young newlywed as she arrives at her new husband's family estate, only to find herself haunted by the memory of his first wife. A cloud of mystery swirls around the dazzling Rebecca, to whom she can never measure up and who threatens to destroy her from beyond the grave. Claustrophobic and haunting, Rebecca is the perfect book to kick off the spooky season with, or to bring it to a close.

7. Great Expectations, Charles Dickens

“I loved her against reason, against promise, against peace, against hope, against happiness, against all discouragement that could be.”

If you’re looking for a long read to sink into as the early nights creep in, you need look no further than this serially published Dickens adventure. The novel follows lowly orphan Pip, who falls in love with the beautiful and frigid Estella before coming into a large fortune, bestowed upon him by a mysterious benefactor. Pip moves to London to enter high society with great expectations of wooing Estella, but things (predictably) don’t go as planned. This one has it all, including a creepy woman living in a ruined mansion, criminals on the run, and confrontations during a midnight thunderstorm.

8. The Secret History, Donna Tartt

“Does such a thing as 'the fatal flaw,' that shadowy dark crack running down the middle of a life, exist outside literature? I used to think it didn't. Now I think it does. And I think that mine is this: a morbid longing for the picturesque at all costs.”

Is it too early to call this book a classic? Published in the 1990s, this novel by Donna Tartt has nonetheless become a staple of classic literature and is rightly included on almost every reading list for autumn and winter. Epitomising the sub-genre termed ‘dark academia’, the novel is set at a prestigious East Coast college where the narrator divulges that a murder has taken place—and he was involved. The Secret History is an inverted detective story, sinking us into the dark side of old money in a way that is both opulent and bleak.

9. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Agatha Christie

"The truth, however ugly in itself, is always curious and beautiful to the seeker after it."

All Agatha Christie books are well-suited for autumn, but if I had to choose a favourite, it would be this one, featuring the brilliant Belgian detective, Poirot, as he (attempts to) retire to the country to grow vegetable marrows. Cosy, funny, and featuring the most famous twist in Christie's collection, it is unmistakably fun. This is probably best read in September for a light and cosy start to the prime season for mysteries.

10. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

"When you have excluded the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."

Of course, a reading list for the season of mysteries would be incomplete without Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's famous detective. This collection of short stories includes some of Holmes's most memorable cases and is best enjoyed in an overstuffed armchair facing an open fireplace—tobacco pipe and view of Victorian London in the rain optional. My personal favourites include "The Red-Headed League", "The Speckled Band", "The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle", "The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb", and best of all, "A Scandal in Bohemia".

Well, there we have it. There are so many classics well-suited to autumn, so let me know which ones I missed!