8 Brilliant Books to Read This Autumn
Travel writer and author Kate Maxwell picks her top reads for autumn. From unforgettable coming-of-age stories to gripping historical fiction and long-awaited new releases, these are the novels she’ll be reaching for this season.
There’s an exceptional crop of books hitting the shelves this autumn, including two by authors who’ll soon be joining us for Firmdale’s Book Salon: Picture Imperfect, Jacqueline Wilson’s first novel for adults, and Cold Sunset, the latest from William Boyd. Also on our TBR list are Peck & Peck, the hotly anticipated second novel from Bonnie Garmus, who was one of our very first Salon guests, and new work from double-Pulitzer-winner Barbara Kingsolver. From literary-world backdrops to meditations on friendship, freedom and fulfilment, here are our picks to keep you company as the mercury falls.
Picture Imperfect
by Jaqueline Wilson
Wilson’s first novel for adults – a former Children’s Laureate, she’s written an astounding 100 books for children and sold more than 40 million copies in the UK – is also a sequel to her 1999 hit The Illustrated Mum. Dolphin Westward is now 33, the same age as her mother Marigold was in The Illustrated Mum. Marigold, meanwhile, is as vulnerable as ever, and Dolphin must decide whether to continue to prioritise caring for her or set her own course. It’s as warm, wise and full of humanity as Wilson’s books for children – and we’ll be discussing it with the national treasure herself at Charlotte Street Hotel on 28th September.
Cold Sunset
by William Boyd
The third and final instalment of William Boyd’s acclaimed Cold War espionage series, Cold Sunset reacquaints us with travel writer Gabriel Dax, who finds himself increasingly entangled in the murky world of intelligence, with its shifting loyalties and political intrigue. Like its predecessors, Cold Sunset is told with Boyd’s trademark blend of elegant prose and historical detail, and it’ll leave you guessing until the end. He’ll be discussing his writing process and sharing his inspiration as part of our Book Salon series at Charlotte Street Hotel on 19th October.
Partita
by Barbara Kingsolver
Kingsolver returns to the rural Appalachian setting of her 2023 Pulitzer Prize-winner Demon Copperhead for Partita, her 13th novel. Livia Bohusz has felt adrift since her brother’s tragic death in childhood and finds comfort in playing the piano. A college music scholarship takes her away from the family farm and into a new world where she confronts confounding class barriers. Kingsolver draws on her own passion for music – she also studied classical piano on a music scholarship – in this masterful coming-of-age story.
Published 8th October, Faber.
Sophie, Standing There
by Meg Mason
The hotly-awaited follow-up to Mason’s 2020 hit novel Sorrow & Bliss follows Sophie, who lurks in the shadows as a sound technician at literary festivals and becomes infatuated with a famous author. When Elizabeth Strout drops out of an event, Lilac Dunne, the object of Sophie’s obsession, takes her place. Will she live up to Sophie’s fantasies and finally drag her into the light? Mason’s trademark humour and keen eye for the highs and humiliations of daily life coalesce in this moving tale about loneliness and the transformative power of a good book.
Out now, Fourth Estate.
Peck & Peck
by Bonnie Garmus
Garmus was one of the first authors to join us for the London edition of the Book Salon, shortly after her debut novel-turned-hit TV series, Lessons in Chemistry, became a bestseller, in 2022. Her second novel, Peck & Peck, is set in gritty 1982 New York City and follows Batter Gray, a young college graduate with a passion for poetry who – fans of Lessons in Chemistry’s talking dog, Six-Thirty, listen up – is named after his mother’s heroic dog. After Gray lands his dream job at the world’s most prestigious and eccentric poetry journal, run by the twins and sworn enemies the Peck brothers, fur flies. Expect social commentary wrapped up in Garmus’s gentle wit.
Published 13th October, Simon & Schuster.
The Newer World
by Sebastian Barry
Barry fans will find echoes of Days Without End and A Thousand Moons in his tenth novel, The Newer World. Set in post-Civil War America, it follows Tennyson Bouguereau, a young Black man born into slavery in Tennessee who becomes a freedman after emancipation. After Tennyson defends his farm from a group of defeated Confederate soldiers, he is forced to leave his home and his sister, Rosalee. His journey takes him through Nashville and military camps in New Mexico and South Dakota, and eventually to Victorian England. A powerful novel about freedom, belonging and survival.
Published 15th September, Faber.
All Our Evenings
by Ruthvika Rao
Nineties Hyderabad is the setting for Rao’s second novel, the follow-up to her acclaimed 2024 debut, The Fertile Earth. Teenagers Arjun, Ruhee and Ganesh form an intimate friendship one summer – until an abrupt act of violence shatters their shared world. When Ruhee returns to Hyderabad a decade later, Arjun is forced to face the ghosts of that summer and the wreckage they’ve left behind. A tender and unsettling story of friendship, desire, class and the past’s enduring hold over the present.
Published September 1st, Flatiron.
Stations
by Louise Kennedy
Set between small-town Ireland and London, Kennedy’s second novel – her debut, Trespasses, was shortlisted for the Women’s Prize – explores first love, friendship, addiction and regret. Róisín and Red meet as teenagers and form an intense bond as they navigate their difficult family backgrounds. When Red finds himself on the wrong side of the law, he heads for London, where, years later, Róisín tracks him down. Their relationship ebbs and flows as the choices they made as children continue to reverberate. Propulsive and beautifully written, Stations confirms Louise Kennedy as one of the UK’s most gifted novelists.
Published September 24th, Bloomsbury.
About Kate Maxwell
Kate Maxwell read English at Oxford University and has worked as a journalist and editor in London and New York. Hush is her first novel and was shortlisted for the Bridport Prize Peggy Chapman-Andrews Award. She lives in London with her husband and children.