Six Short Novels for a Rainy Weekend
Some weekends call for a doorstop. Others call for something you can start on Friday and finish by Sunday afternoon with a sense of real accomplishment. These are my favourite short novels, all under two hundred pages.
A Month in the Country — J. L. Carr
A war veteran spends a summer uncovering a medieval wall painting in a village church. Nothing much happens and it is perfect.
The Old Man and the Sea — Ernest Hemingway
Best read in one go. You'll feel the ache in your own hands by the end.
Of Mice and Men — John Steinbeck
I avoided it for years because it was a school text. That was a mistake.
The Great Gatsby — F. Scott Fitzgerald
Every reread finds a different book. This time it was mostly about Nick.
Silas Marner — George Eliot
Eliot in miniature: all of her warmth, a fraction of the page count.
Ethan Frome — Edith Wharton
Bleak, snowy and short. Save it for a properly grey afternoon.