Anonymous asked:

It's pouring outside where I live and I am looking for a lovely novel to begin. Recommendations for a cold and dreary day?

On a cold and dreary day, I crave warmth and coziness, but not necessarily sunshine (the lack of it will seem even more depressing in comparison); I want a book that ends happily, despite its dismal climates. British novels do this wonderfully. A classic example is Jane Eyre. But you’ve probably already read that. Have you read Nancy Mitford’s Love in a Cold Climate? The title itself should tell you it’s applicable in this situation. You might also try A. S. Byatt’s Possession. It’s a restrained and intellectualized bodice-ripper of a romance, and Byatt purposely sets the most emotionally intense moments in the novel in stormy weather, as a nod to a stylistic device that was popular during the Victorian Era in which half the novel is set.