Writing Tips Oasis

Novelicious Picks…Jam Inspired Books for Autumn

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This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.

Jam and Roses by Mary GibsonOh don't you just love this time of year? There is something so special about it. Yes it is always sad to see a wonderful summer go, but autumn gives us such beauty, such magnificent colours that we always welcome it.

And I know I'm not alone because my Twitter feed is full of gorgeously autumnal pictures. Not only does this season give us beauty but autumn also gives us is a bountiful supply of fruit. Apples, which I've given recipes for in recent Feasting posts with – hint – another apple recipe to follow this Wednesday, along with plums, pears, damsons, sloes and blackberries. Perfect for jams, jellies, curds, chutneys. Anything in a jar. Plus flavoured gins, vodkas, wines … need I go on? And yes, I have been busy making them. (So far blackberry curd, damson jam and tomato jam). So I felt I just had to give five books for this week's Novelicious Picks, with a title including the word, jam. Perfect autumnal reading. 

1. Jam and Roses by Mary Gibson – It is the 1920s in Bermondsey. Three sisters: Milly, who works in the jam factory, Elsie, who dreams of a career on stage and Amy, who likes to mess about with her mates, try and protect their mother from the terrible unforgiving temper of their father.

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2. Jam Busters: The Story of the Women's Institute During the Second World War by Julie Summers – A friend of mine shared a picture of this on Instagram and I just knew I had to read it. Julie Summers tells the story of the WI during the war. It covers the small details such as making jam, making do and mending, gathering rosehips … minute activities that they approached with enthusiasm and which played a crucial role during the war years. 

3. The Voluptuous Delights of Peanut Butter and Jam by Lauren Liebenberg – In what was Rhodesia, two young sisters, Nyree and Cia, live on a remote farm. This is a story of African paganism, the lure of the Brothers Grimm and mangled Catholicism. When their orphaned cousin, Ronin, arrives their idyll is destroyed.

4. Bread, Jam and a Borrowed Pram by Dot May Dunn – A memoir from the end of the 1950s. Dot has qualified as a midwife and has taken a job as a health visitor on the back streets of Birmingham. She attends to families with their newborns and toddlers who have next to nothing.  

5. The Irresistible Blueberry Bakeshop and Cafe by Mary Simses – OK, this one doesn't have a title with the word jam, but you have to check out its delicious cover. This is the story of Manhattan lawyer Ellen Branford who is going to Beacon, Maine to carry out her grandmother's last wish. She has to give a letter to the boy she first loved.

What books get you in the mood for autumn?