There are books where the gradual sequence of seasons is almost a character in itself, a cog of the story turning it forward to new plots and eventual resolutions. The following recommendations all share this facet, but each from a different area and era, making them as unique as they are beautiful. Whether it’s Alaska or Vermont, these kinds of books remind us to appreciate the seasonality surrounding our own world, and to let it be a backdrop to adventure and wonder.

Death Comes for the Archbishop (Willa Cather, 1927)

The stark, rich tones of the American Southwest shift like setting light on a painting as Willa Cather weaves them into the seasons of Jean Latour’s life. Exquisitely evocative of the desert setting, Cather’s voice suffuses even the most trivial aspect of episcopal frontier life with colorful depth and thoughtful reflection. Here, the landscape is a foil not just for snow, sun, and sand, but also the perseverance of one man’s life and labor. 

Miracles on Maple Hill (Virginia Sorensen, 1956)

While pivotal moments of this Newberry winning novel occur during Vermont winters, the intricate workings of all the seasons play a vivd, healing role for a returned POW and his family. Whether it’s the first taste of syrup or the last leaf of autumn, nature’s seasonal rituals form a stable framework for new beginnings, giving the family space to grow and wonder amid the promised miracles that follow from attentiveness to nature.

The Blue Castle (L.M. Montgomery, 1926) 

Set on an island over the course of a year, The Blue Castle is one of Montgomery’s most stunning and lyrical immersions into the eastern Canadian setting. When unusual circumstances embolden Valancy Stirling to cast off her pinched city life, she inserts herself into the intimately seasonal ebb and flow of a remote island, finding kinship, romance, and self-discovery along the way. With a plot that exemplifies the surprising vagaries of nature, The Blue Castle is a refreshing, hopeful taste of the renewal of changing seasons. 

One Man’s Wilderness (Richard Proenneke, Sam Keith, 1973)

The seasons are as familiar as next door neighbors in the simple, vivid entries of One Man’s Wilderness, chronicling two years of building a log cabin and exploring Alaskan wilderness. Proenneke’s reciprocity with nature models resilience, resourcefulness, and conservation as he lives within the shifting worlds of winter snows and summer fireweed. In encountering the extreme beauty of one man’s wilderness, we remember to find our own wilderness in the pages of seasonality surrounding our own lives.