Our Creative Director Srishti Ramakrishnan reflects on her top ten book recommendations for when the chilly Edinburgh winter has you missing summer.
What to read this Summer
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, William Shakespeare (1595-6)
“The course of true love never did run smooth.”
John Simmons, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, 1873
One of Shakespeare’s most popular and widely performed plays, A Midsummer Night’s Dream has it all: love triangles, pining lovers, fairies, and a man with a donkey’s head. The complex web of five different plot lines all connected by the wedding of Theseus and Hippolyta in Athens makes for a highly entertaining comedy. Yet, in typical Shakespearean fashion, it also deals with serious topics including the loss of identity and problematic gender roles. The fairy realm allows for wonderful and evocative descriptions, and the elements of magic and the supernatural (as well as, of course, the play’s setting at Midsummer) make this the summeriest Shakespeare of them all.
A Streetcar Named Desire, Tennessee Williams (1947)
“I don’t want realism. I want magic!”
A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
This is another play, but quite different from the light-hearted magic of the Shakespeare – although Blanche DuBois would certainly envision herself as the ravishing Queen of the Fairies. Set in the sweltering heat of a New Orleans summer, Williams brilliantly depicts the acute split taking place in the 1950s Deep South between the old aristocracy, represented by Southern belle Blanche, and the brutal, hyper-masculine industrial world consuming it, played out through the animalism of Stanley, Blanche’s brother-in-law. The play is quite short, but full of intense dialogue and heavy content, and while certainly not a light summer read, portrays the uncomfortable, suffocating side of the season. There are also several acclaimed performances of the play, including the 1951 film with Vivien Leigh and Marlon Brando, and the 2014 National Theatre filmed production with Gillian Anderson and Ben Foster.
Atonement, Ian McEwan (2001)
“Finally, he spoke the three simple words that no amount of bad art or bad faith can ever quite cheapen.”
Atonement (2007)
McEwan’s sprawling novel spans three time periods, from 1935 to the Second World War, to the present day. It deals with the unknowingly false accusation of Briony, a young upper-class girl, and the fallout of her actions on the lives of so many people around her. The characters are incredibly complex and well-written, and McEwan’s beautiful prose makes the book feel like a timeless classic, rather than the fairly modern work that it is. Although it deals with serious and heavy topics, Atonement is, at its heart, a love story, and the setting of the pivotal moment by a fountain on a hot summer’s day makes the book feel inherently a summer one. The underlying drama of the plot also makes it a page-turner perfect for a holiday read.
Call Me By Your Name, André Aciman (2007)
“Call me by your name and I’ll call you by mine.”
Call Me By Your Name (2007)
Nothing says summer more than Italy and romance, and this book is the epitome of both. When Oliver, a scholar, stays with 17-year-old Elio’s family in Northern Italy, unexpected feelings arise in both men. The book details their passionate and deep relationship which develops over the summer, set against the stunning backdrop of the Italian Riviera. Aciman’s writing portrays the intensity and significance of their time together, with the novel spanning the next twenty years and exploring the ways in which both men’s lives are impacted by their relationship. The fervour and emotional intensity of the story, and its presentation of the simultaneous transcience and permanence of love, are sure to captivate you. The 2017 movie starring Timothée Chalamet and Armie Hammer is a beautiful adaptation to watch after your read.
Emma, Jane Austen (1815)
“If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more.”
Chiltern Classics, Emma (2019)
Emma is definitely Jane Austen’s funniest book, and I think far too underrated. Emma Woodhouse, as Austen writes, is “handsome, clever and rich”, and has, thus far, experienced very little difficulty in her comfortable life. She takes it upon herself to act as matchmaker for her friends, but this lands her in trouble when her attempts to find the pretty but unconnected Harriet a husband force her to confront her own feelings. The book is very lighthearted, and showcases some of Austen’s wittiest prose. It also acts as a critique of the extreme snobbery and carelessness of the rich upper classes, exposing the difficulties faced by those less well-off through the characters of the ridiculous but well-meaning Miss Bates and her long-suffering niece, Jane Fairfax. With an ensemble of loveable characters and no shortage of funny and romantic lines, this book is perfect for a summer picnic (or, more likely, a rainy day stuck inside).
One Day, David Nicholls (2009)
“Whatever happens tomorrow, we had today; and I’ll always remember it.”
Netflix, One Day (2024)
This had to be on the list, given the importance of Edinburgh to the story, and the popularity of the new Netflix adaptation this year. Emma and Dexter meet on the 15th of July 1988 at Edinburgh University, and the book finds them every year on the same day for twenty years, tracking their lives separately and together. Although things turn out very differently from how they had planned, their lives remain interconnected and their impact on each other is profound and lasting. Nicholls’ inspiration for the book came from a line from Hardy’s Tess of the D’Urbevilles, but to say which one would spoil the plot, so you can discover that for yourself! The nostalgia and slow-burn romance threaded throughout the book, as well as the centrality of a date at the peak of summer, make this an easy and enjoyable read for the sunny weather.
To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee (1960)
“Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.”
Arrow, To Kill a Mockingbird (2010)
This book is one of the most well-known classics of the 20th century, and holds an important place in the canon of American literature. Set in Maycombe, a small town in the 1930s Deep South, the story is narrated retrospectively by Scout, a young girl living with her brother and their father Atticus, a lawyer. When Atticus agrees to represent a black man accused of raping a white woman, Scout is confronted with the deeply entrenched prejudice and racism of her town, and forced to decide whether or not she will conform. The perspective of a young girl, both privileged by her race but also oppressed by her gender, makes for a complex narrative which is constructed against the backdrop of the truly horrific societal injustice of the time; Scout’s growth from childhood to adulthood feels fitting for the transition of spring into summer.
The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald (1925)
“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”
Francis Cugat, Celestial Eyes, 1925
The extravagant splendour of 1920s Jazz Age New York comes to life in Fitzgerald’s acclaimed novel, told through the eyes of midwestern Nick Carraway, who has recently moved to Long Island and is intrigued by his enigmatic neighbour, Jay Gatsby. Catapulted into his hedonistic world, Nick learns of Gatsby’s haunted past and his undying love for Daisy, who is married and lives a vapid, rich life across the water. Fitzgerald captures with sparkling prose the overwhelming grandeur of the Roaring Twenties among the rich socialites, but at the same time exposes its superficiality and immorality, as well as the struggles of the lower classes. The Great Gatsby is a must read for everyone, with its captivating characters and plot; set over the course of one intense summer, it is perfect to read on holiday with a cocktail in hand.
The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini (2003)
“It always hurts more to have and lose than to not have in the first place.”
Bloomsbury, The Kite Runner (2011)
Khaled Hosseini’s debut novel is perhaps his most famous, spanning many years and settings, beginning in Afghanistan and later moving to America. It tells the story of Amir, a young boy in Afghanistan who is desperate to win the local kite-fighting tournament, and Hassan, his lower-class friend to whom something unimaginable will happen that afternoon. Set against the continuous political turmoil in Afghanistan, from the fall of the monarchy and the Soviet invasion to Taliban rule, the book is deeply poignant and moving, and an important exploration of social class, guilt, and father-son relationships. If you’re looking for a book that will absorb you in the moment and stay with you long afterwards, this is certainly one of them.
The Summer We Crossed Europe In The Rain: Lyrics for Stacey Kent, Kazuo Ishiguro (2024)
“Let’s be young again, / if only for the weekend / Let’s be fools again, / let’s fall in at the deep end / Let’s do once more / all those things we did before, / the summer we crossed Europe in the rain.”
Faber & Faber, The Summer We Crossed Europe In The Rain (2024)
I wanted to make sure to include some poetry, and this collection is unquestionably summery but also unique in its origins. Written by Kazuo Ishiguro, the author best known for books such as Never Let Me Go and The Remains of the Day, this is a compilation of the lyrics he has written for the singer Stacey Kent since 2007. They are deeply poetic and read as short vignettes, infused with yearning, memory, travel and romance, themes prevalent in Ishiguro’s other work. Although the words are evocative and visceral in their own right, the illustrations by Bianca Bagnarelli only enhance the images spun by Ishiguro. This collection would be wonderful to read whilst travelling in the summer, alongside listening to Kent’s beautiful album of the same name.
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