Discover the Stories, Settings, and Unforgettable Characters that Capture the Heart and Spirit of New England
Written by Kaelie Piscitello
Every traveler needs to get into the spirit before they visit a new place. Before traveling to New England this year, read the following books to get a sense of the region’s history and aesthetic.
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Little Women is a well-loved American classic that remains near and dear to the hearts of many New England natives. The story of four sisters, Amy, Meg, Beth, and Jo, has enchanted generations of young women, painting a tale of triumphs, heartbreaks, and everyday life for the girls.
Anyone visiting Boston should read this book beforehand and consider visiting Louisa May Alcott’s home in Concord, not too far from the city, to see the house and town that inspired Alcott to write her books, which she based on her family. The book gives a loving look at New England during the late 1800s and the events that shaped the period and nation well after.
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving
Far different from Little Women, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow takes a much more eerie tone. This short story features a set of 34 tales, and many have a spooky quality to them.
“The Headless Horseman” remains Irving’s most famous short story. It centers on a man decapitated by a cannonball. Legend says he still rides around wearing a pumpkin in its place. Many people from the northern part of the United States revisit this tale around Halloween to read about New York’s Sleepy Hollow, which still exists today.
Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
Bradbury based this novel around the famous saying of the witches from Shakespeare’s Macbeth and made his book more eerie than the title sounds. Many of the story’s motifs allude to Dante’s Inferno and signify the battle between good and evil.
The novel focuses on best friends Jim Nightshade and Will Halloway and the temptations they face when an evil traveling carnival comes to town with a box full of surprises.
While Something Wicked This Way Comes takes place in Illinois, a bit far from New England, many children from the Northeast read this book during school as part of the curriculum and liken it to the haunting feeling associated with haunted places, such as Salem.
Summer Sisters by Judy Blume
On a lighter note, Judy Blume’s Summer Sisters delves into the friendship between Vix Leonard and Caitlin Somers. This coming-of-age novel explores the girls’ personalities and motivations as they grow up, discover boys, and consider whether they prioritize their relationships with men over their friendships.
The girls get together each summer in Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts, coining the name “summer sisters,” and show each other their loyalties and disloyalties by sometimes choosing one another.
Any woman with a best friend needing a reminder not to take her best friend for granted should read this book.
A Hundred Summers by Beatriz Williams
A Hundred Summers focuses on the year 1938 in an idyllic town in Rhode Island, close to Newport. The heroine, Lilly Dane, returns to Rhode Island and finds that a close friend, Budgie, has gotten engaged to her ex-fiancé. Various trials and tribulations ensue among the friends, and Lilly and Budgie explore their realities, jealousies, and how they might reconnect after all these years.
The Crucible
The Crucible brings drama and scandal to the infamous Salem Witch Trials, exploring the theorized relationships between the real-life people placed on trial. It brings depth to a historic event that many people find interesting and entices them with the hysteria of one girl, driven by rage, as she attempts to capture the attention of people who want to convict her as an adultress.
Read this book before visiting the Salem Witch Museum and other Halloween attractions in Northern Massachusetts.
Dead Poets Society by Nancy H. Kleinbaum
Robin Williams’ famous movie Dead Poets Society was first a book set in Vermont about the boys attending private school. In both versions, a new English teacher arrives at the school and revolutionizes the way his students learn about subjects important to them.
During the book, the characters restart an old club, the Dead Poets Society, and the boys often sneak off campus to read poetry together during their free hours of the day.
The story takes a famous turn for the worse and tests the boys’ values and limits at a new level. This book examines the harsh pressures society places on young men and the stress that comes with needing to achieve at high-intensity schools.
