REQUIRED READING:
AUTUMN WINTER 26

A collection is never shaped by one reference alone. It grows from experiencing art, long conversations and well-thumbed novels. This season’s reading list is inspired by the themes of Autumn Winter 26; books on creativity, self-invention, landscape and the enduring beauty of things made by hand.

01. THE PURSUIT OF LOVE — NANCY MITFORD

A witty portrait of unconventional lives and restless spirits. Mitford’s world is one of sharp observation, eccentric characters and women who refuse to be easily defined.

02. BRIDESHEAD REVISITED — EVELYN WAUGH

A novel of memory, desire and fading grandeur. Set between English country houses and shifting social worlds, it traces the tension between beauty and belief, tradition and modernity.

03. CHRISTINA’S WORLD — CHRISTINA BAKER KLINE

Inspired by Andrew wyeth’s iconic painting, this novel imagines the life of Christina olson. It explores resilience, place and determination, unfolding across expansive landscapes.

04. THE BRIGHT YOUNG PEOPLE — D.J. TAYLOR

An intimate portrait of London’s bright young things during the 1920s; artists, writers, socialites and bohemians who transformed dressing into performance and everyday life into theatre. Rich with wit and cultural history, it offers a window into a generation whose irreverence continues to resonate.

05. THE GARDEN AGAINST TIME — OLIVIA LAING

A contemporary meditation on gardens as spaces of refuge, imagination and resistance. Moving between memoir, history and cultural reflection, laing explores how landscapes are shaped and reshaped by care, labour and desire.

06. ON STYLE — SUSAN SONTAG

A collection of essays that considers style as something deeper than appearance; a way of thinking, making and seeing. Precise, curious and endlessly rewarding to return to.