Books Set in Massachusetts

Books to read before visiting Massachusetts

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Paul Revere’s Ride by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

“One if by land, and two if by sea…” We all have heard at least this line from the famous Wadsworth poem that tells the story of the night the American Revolution began, but how much do you know about the poem’s author? Check out the post below to learn more about Wadsworth and his time in Boston.

Purchase Paul Revere’s Ride by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow via Amazon | Bookshop

Read Post: In the Boston Footsteps of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Watch: In H. W. Longfellow’s Boston Footsteps

This is a cute children’s book about a policeman and a family of ducks in Boston.

Today you can find a statue of McCloskey’s duck family walking through the Boston Public Garden. Check out the post below to learn about this and other literary locations in Boston you should visit!

Purchase Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey: Amazon | Bookshop

Read Post: A Walking Tour Through Boston for Book Lovers

This is a coming of age story of four American sisters growing up in Concord during the American Civil War. The story is loosely based on the lives of the author and her real sisters who did live in Concord, MA.

Purchase Little Women by Louisa May Alcott: Amazon | Bookshop

Read Post: Orchard House and the Real Little Women

Mosses from an Old Manse is a compilation of short stories written by the author while he lived in The Old Manse in Concord, MA.

Purchase Mosses from an Old Manse by Nathaniel Hawthorne : Amazon | Bookshop

Watch:  Literary Tour of Concord’s Old Manse

Thoreau lived in a cabin by Walden Pond for 2 years, 2 months, and 2 days. He wrote Walden during his time attempting to live mostly disconnected from society.

Purchase Walden, or Life in the Woods by Henry David Thoreau: Amazon | Bookshop

Read Posts:

• A Literary Tour of Concord & Walden Pond
• Skip Walden (In All Forms), Just Go Outside
• Waldening in Southeast Alaska

Watch: On the Trail of Concord’s Transcendentalists

Ralph Waldo Emerson was a leader in the Transcendentalist writers movement. His essays, such as Nature, were the inspiration for other transcendentalist writers such as Henry David Thoreau and Bronson Alcott, who moved into Emerson’s neighborhood in Concord, MA.

Purchase Nature by Ralph Waldo Emerson: Amazon | Bookshop

Read Post: A Literary Tour of Concord & Walden Pond

Watch: On the Trail of Concord’s Transcendentalists

The House of the Seven Gables is a fictional history of a real house in Salem the author lived in for a period of his life. The premise of this strange story of the house’s inhabitants is rooted in Salem’s unfortunate Witch Trials history.

Purchase The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne: Amazon | Bookshop

Read Post: Salem Witch Trials and Hawthorne’s House of the Seven Gables

Too busy to get through these books in print? Try listening to them via Audible! Sign up for Audible Premium Plus and you get up to two books free! I not only use Audible to multi-task at home, but when traveling I love listening to books while I walk around the location/s the story takes place.