Rebecca
Daphne du Maurier, 1938
A young bride arrives at the great house Manderley and finds it still ruled by the memory of her husband's first wife.
Consider: Where in Rebecca does love show itself through action rather than words?
A note from the concierge
Welcome
Atmospheric, unhurried books for the season of long evenings.
Best read in a favourite chair, with the lamp on early and nowhere to be.
The Concierge
6 books
The List
The Secret History
Donna Tartt, 1992
At a small New England college, a clique of classics students is drawn into a crime that slowly unravels them. The reader knows the ending from page one and cannot look away.
Consider: What does friendship demand of the people in The Secret History?
Jane Eyre
Charlotte Brontë, 1847
An orphaned governess with fierce independence takes a post at Thornfield Hall and finds a secret at its heart.
Consider: Where in Jane Eyre does love show itself through action rather than words?
A Gentleman in Moscow
Amor Towles, 2016
Sentenced to house arrest in a grand Moscow hotel in 1922, Count Rostov finds an entire world within its walls.
Consider: What does friendship demand of the people in A Gentleman in Moscow?
Braiding Sweetgrass
Robin Wall Kimmerer, 2013
A botanist and member of the Potawatomi Nation weaves scientific knowledge and Indigenous wisdom into essays on our reciprocal relationship with the living world.
Consider: What does Braiding Sweetgrass make you notice about the natural world around you?
The Remains of the Day
Kazuo Ishiguro, 1989
An impeccable English butler takes a motoring holiday and looks back on a lifetime of service, and on what he never allowed himself to say.
Consider: What does The Remains of the Day suggest about the way we choose what to remember?
Practical
How to Read This List
Read together, these 6 books come to about 66 hours. That is a comfortable month at roughly 17 hours a week.
- Begin with the book that appeals most. There is no required order.
- Keep a pencil nearby for the questions in each entry.
- Finish one book before opening the next.
- When a book is not working, put it down without guilt and move on.
If you want more
Beyond the List
Readers who love this list tend to enjoy the following. Each is chosen for how closely it shares the mood and themes of the books above.
Americanah
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, 2013
A young Nigerian woman builds a life in America while her first love stays behind, and years later their paths cross again in Lagos, each changed by what it costs to belong somewhere. Shares literary fiction and thought-provoking with The Remains of the Day.
The Alice Network
Kate Quinn, 2017
In 1947 a young American searching for her missing cousin is drawn into the story of a woman who spied behind enemy lines in occupied France during the First World War. Shares historical fiction and uplifting with A Gentleman in Moscow.
Pride and Prejudice
Jane Austen, 1813
Elizabeth Bennet's quick wit meets Mr. Darcy's pride in the most sparkling comedy of manners in the language. Shares classics and romance with Jane Eyre.