Book Review: Autumn by Ali Smith

Book: 186

Rating: 3/5

Alright, so this is my very last review of 2020 and I'm not quite sure how to string my thoughts together.

Autumn is the first in a quartet (series): Autumn, Winter, Spring, and Summer. I love the idea of this and have heard wonderful things about Ali Smith as a writer. As the literary fiction sucker I am, I had to check this series out.

Hailed as the first post-Brexit novel, Smith details the relationship between a young girl, Elisabeth, and her older (grandfather-aged) neighbour, Daniel. In present day, Daniel is in a coma and Elisabeth visits him often in the hospital, with staff assuming she is his granddaughter (and she never corrects them). Throughout the book there are short flashbacks that give you an insight into how Daniel and Elisabeth meet, and their relationship with one another.

I really think I would have enjoyed and appreciated this one more if I had sat with it and read it over a weekend rather then spread out over a few weeks. Smith's writing demands the reader's full attention, and I couldn't give it that. I'm hoping to read Winter in January, and am considering doing a re-read of Autumn (even though the books don't really need to be read sequentially).

This just goes to show when you're in the mood for a certain genre, pick it up! I think if I read this one when I was really craving a literary fiction book, I would have enjoyed it much more.