Part of the excitement of working from home for this introvert was rescheduling my day and importantly, finding the time for reading a book in isolation – reading a great deal (well that’s the plan). And so, I came to schedule a ‘book hour’ after lunch where I would take to my cosy couch with a cuppa and a classic work of fiction.
After nearly five years of study in science, I have been drawn to not only classic fiction but a penchant for romance. Maybe it is the feelings of isolation and solitude that lockdown brings uniquely to those who are single and live alone, or perhaps it is the feeling of revisiting old friends. From Mr Darcy and Elizabeth, to Heathcliff and Cathy, there is comfort in the certainty of these narratives and the joy of re-reading when ones own circumstances have changed so much.
“Some books are so familiar that reading them is like being home again.” Little Women Louisa May Alcott
Literature, as art, in this way is indeed therapy. And while we may not access our favourite libraries – which play such an important role in society, so keep supporting your local – we may take solace in our own imaginations against some of the greatest prose ever written. Reading a book in isolation is escapism at its best, yes, but perhaps right now it is something we need more than anything.
My ‘Book Hour in Iso’ Reading List
- A Room With A View E.M. Foster
- Anna Karenina Leo Tolstoy
- Anne of Green Gables E.M. Montgomery
- Brideshead Revisited Evelyn Waugh
- Far From the Madding Crowd Thomas Hardy
- Jane Eyre Charlotte Bronte
- Lady Chatterley’s Lover D.H. Lawrence
- Lolita Vladimir Nobokov
- Love in the time of Cholera Gabriel Garcia Marquez
- Madame Bovary Gustave Flaubert
- Pride & Prejudice Jane Austen
- Wuthering Heights Emily Bronte
