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Vermont Books: Novels Set in the Green Mountain State
By: Angela & Melissa
Updated:
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, we may earn a referral fee from qualifying purchases.Whether you’re participating in our Read Around the USA Challenge or simply found your way to our website researching books set in Vermont, we’ve curated a diverse list of highly-rated titles about the Green Mountain State!
The Green Mountain state is home to numerous elite boarding schools and liberal arts colleges. While researching books about Vermont, a major theme that emerged was dark academia and cold-weather thrillers, so you’ll find a few of these on the list.
Poet Robert Frost moved from New Hampshire to Vermont in 1920 and lived there for more than four decades. He became the official poet laureate of Vermont, writing from his log cabin.
The Best Novels Set in Vermont
The Broken Girls
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Book Summary
In the 1950s, Idlewild Hall was the place for girls deemed troublemakers – those who were too smart for their own good and unwanted. Rumors swirl through the small town that the boarding school is haunted. After four roommates bond over their whispered fears, one of them disappears.
Six decades later, in 2014, journalist Fiona Sheridan learns that an anonymous benefactor is restoring Idlewild Hall. She can’t stop thinking about the night twenty years earlier when her older sister was found dead in a field near the ruins of Idlewild Hall. Then, a shocking discovery during renovations links her sister’s death to secrets that were meant to stay hidden in the past.
The Book Girls Say…
This book is part dark academia and part ghost story.
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Best Books from 2018
Novels About Education for Back to School Season
Book Summary
Sebastian, a former boy band member, needs a ghostwriter for his memoir. The job comes with a penthouse at a luxurious resort in Vermont, so Alix jumps at the opportunity to escape her cramped apartment.
She’s also the perfect person for the job because, as a music journalist, she was the last person to interview the band’s lead singer before he disappeared.
As she digs through her client’s notes for the memoir, she also hopes to uncover the truth about the disappearance. However, she will have some fun along the way as she begins ski lessons at the resort. Her instructor is the swoon-worthy Tyler, and soon, they are connecting on and off the slopes.
The Book Girls Say…
Readers report this is a low-spice book, so if you love romance without steamy scenes, this is for you!
The Secret History
Book Summary
This classic novel is set at Hampden College, a small, elite Vermont liberal arts school. Richard, an out-of-state student from California, gets pulled into a close-knit community of the classics department.
Narrator Richard tells the events that led to the death of a fellow student. He recounts the influence that a professor exerted over a group of undergrads, and the dark path of secrets and corruption that the students went down, changing all of their lives forever.
Author Donna Tartt spent her undergrad years at Bennington College in Vermont, which is speculated to be the influence for the fictional Hampden College.
The Book Girls Say…
This book received mixed reviews from our readers who previously selected it as their Vermont book for the Read Around the USA Challenge, but it’s widely considered a modern classic within the dark academia genre, and it has a 4.2 rating on Goodreads.
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Book Summary
As a child, Maggie’s parents purchased Baneberry Hall, a rambling Victorian estate in the Vermont woods. However, the family only lived in the home for three weeks before fleeing in the middle of the night. Maggie’s father, Ewan, gained worldwide acclaim after he recounted their terrifying weeks in the house in a non-fiction book called House of Horrors.
Maggie now works as a restorer of old homes and doesn’t believe in ghosts. She was too young to remember any of her time at Baneberry Hall. So, when she inherits the estate after her father’s death, she’s not too concerned about going to restore it. However, her homecoming is anything but warm.
The Book Girls Say…
Home Before Dark was a 2020 Goodreads Choice nominee for Best Mystery & Thriller.
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A Doomful of Sugar
Book Summary
Leila’s Lebanese father ran an artisanal maple syrup business, Sappy Endings, in Vermont…until he was killed. Leila had been living in Florida ever since her mother tried to arrange her marriage to a friend. After the tragedy, she moved back home to Sugar Ridge to help run her father’s company. Soon after, she realized that she was going to have to investigate the murder herself if she wanted to find the truth.
To the police, Leila’s brother is a prime suspect, but she has concerns about some of the employees. Meanwhile, her relationship with her mother isn’t going any smoother than it was before she left town.
The Book Girls Say…
While this is a cozy mystery, it has a bit more depth than some and includes interesting info about both the making of maple syrup and Lebanese culture. Readers also enjoy the role of Leila’s cat throughout the book.
To help transport you to Vermont, this book even includes five maple recipes for you to make after reading! The third book in the series was released in October 2024.
Book Summary
While Emily dreams of making a living as an artist, at 35, she still works at her grandmother’s Vermont inn. She tends to play it safe and is the only one in her friend group who hasn’t tried to summit the mountain in their hometown of Crescent Falls, Vermont.
Diana is a go-getter and so close to being next in line as CEO of her father’s hotel chain. Everything in her life follows her careful plans…until she meets an alluring artist on a Vermont mountain.
Emily and Diana’s passion for each other grows quickly…until they realize that Diana is in town to buy Emily’s grandmother’s beloved inn.
A Stranger in the Kingdom
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Book Summary
This novel, first published in 1989, tells the story of a brutal small-town murder in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom. The town hires a new minister after a phone interview. The Black minister arrives in town to find racial tension and religious strife. Soon, the minister finds himself on trial more for who he is than for what he might have done.
The minister’s 16-year-old son befriends the son of the local newspaper editor. The story is told through the eyes of the editor’s young son as he looks back on that fateful summer nearly thirty-five years later.
The Book Girls Say…
The area known as the Northeast Kingdom represents 2,000 square miles of Vermont, including some of the state’s most scenic and untouched locations. The author writes about this region as only a local can, and readers from the area say that he truly captured the spirit and culture of the Kingdom during the mid-fifties.
The murder trial in this book is said to be incredibly well written, making it perfect for fans of legal dramas. If you prefer coming-of-age novels, the author also wrote another book titled Northern Borders, which is set in the same region.
Radio Free Vermont
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Book Summary
This political fiction novel imagines a movement in which a band of Vermont patriots decides that their state might be better off as its own republic.
Seventy-two-year-old Vern Barclay hosts Radio Free Vermont, broadcasting from an “undisclosed and double-secret location.” With the help of a young computer prodigy, he uses his radio show to advocate for the idea of an independent Vermont.
He empowers an eccentric group of activists who carry out their version of guerilla warfare. This includes dismissing local middle school children early in honor of ‘Ethan Allen Day’ and hijacking a Coors Light truck to replace the stock with local brew.
But even as Vern’s idea gains traction, he must remain in hiding. In addition to being a political activist, he’s a fugitive from the law.
The Book Girls Say…
When we think of Vermont, we think of the state’s history as a pioneer in legislative issues, such as gay rights and environmentalism. While we generally try to steer clear of specifically political books, this one is a humorous work of fiction that vividly portrays the small but mighty state of Vermont. This book is certainly not for everyone, but it’s a short read we wanted to throw into the mix for those interested.
The Winter People
Book Summary
The town of West Hall, Vermont, has a dark past, including the 1908 death of Sara Harrison Shea and her daughter in separate incidents.
About a hundred years later, 19-year-old Ruthie lives in Sara’s old farmhouse. One morning, she wakes up to find that her mother, Alice, is missing. As she tries to find clues about her mother’s disappearance, she finds Sara’s diary and learns about the town’s past. Will Ruth be the person who can finally solve the mysteries of West Hall?
The Book Girls Say…
If you love the thriller genre, you may also want to consider What Remains of Her and Before Familiar Woods. Both are mystery/suspense novels set in rural Vermont.
Return to Sender
Book Summary
This award-winning middle-grade book gives insight into a Vermont farming family and their reliance on Mexican migrant workers. When Tyler’s father is injured, he hires workers to save the farm from foreclosure.
The migrant family hired has three daughters, and the oldest is both proud of her heritage and becoming increasingly connected to American life. However, her family lives in constant fear of being returned to the life of poverty they left behind.
The Book Girls Say…
For another look at migrant farmworkers in Vermont, there is a non-fiction comic anthology featuring stories of survival and healing called The Most Costly Journey.
The City Baker’s Guide to Country Living
Book Summary
Livvy is a talented pastry chef at an exclusive Boston dinner club. Unfortunately, her career goes up in flames when she manages to flambé not just a dessert but the entire building. Needing to get out of town, she heads north to Vermont and the comfort of her best friend. She doesn’t intend to stay long, but that all changes when she’s offered a job at the Sugar Maple Inn. The owner of the Sugar Maple hopes that Livvy can help her reclaim the inn’s blue ribbon status in the apple pie contest at the county fair.
Livvy and her dog, Salty, move into a sugarhouse on the inn’s property. She loves creating mouthwatering desserts for the residents of Guthrie, and she soon finds herself immersed in small-town life. She hits it off with Martin McCraken, a Guthrie native who has recently returned home to care for his father.
Soon, there’s another new arrival in town, and Livvy questions if she really belongs in Guthrie after all.
The Book Girls Say…
This novel is described as a perfect mix of Gilmore Girls, the 1980’s Diane Keaton movie, Baby Boom, and the Broadway musical Waitress. What could be better than that?
Black Diamond Fall
Book Summary
This literary mystery is based on two actual events at Middlebury College – the disappearance of a student during winter break and the vandalism of Robert Frost’s former home on one of the outer campuses.
Luc Flanders left to retrieve a lost item after finishing a game of pond hockey with his roommates, but he never returned. The police investigate his disappearance, but with no definitive conclusion. Some think he doesn’t want to be found, while others believe foul play was involved.
As the investigation intensifies, several people become suspects, including Luc’s ex-girlfriend and Sam Solomon, an older man with whom Luc had a secret relationship.
Holiday Books Set in Vermont
Love You a Latke
Book Summary
Abby Cohen is the only Jew on the tourism board for her small Vermont town, and as such, she’s been tasked with planning the town’s inaugural Hanukkah festival. The problem is that every vendor in town simply wants to repurpose their Christmas decorations. Can’t the Three Wise Men from the light-up Nativity scene wear yarmulkes?
Desperately in need of support, Abby puts out a call for help online and is surprised to discover that she’s not the only Jew within 100 miles like she thought. It turns out there’s also Seth – the annoyingly cheerful man who comes into her cafe each day.
She soon learns that Seth’s parents have been begging him to bring a “Nice Jewish Girlfriend” home to NYC for Hanukkah. He promises that if she poses as his fake girlfriend, he will introduce her to all the vendors she needs for her festival’s success. It doesn’t take long for Seth to start melting Abby’s frozen heart over latkes, doughnuts, and winter adventures in Manhattan.
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The Book Club Hotel
Book Summary
Erica, Claudia, and Anna are lifelong friends headed to the Maple Sugar Inn in picturesque Vermont for their book club holiday. Each woman is around 40 years old, and the milestone birthday has affected them differently. Over the years, their shared love of books has carried them through life’s ups and downs.
Hattie is a 28-year-old widow who manages the Inn. Between work and her 5-year-old daughter, she has her hands full as the holidays approach. Even with distractions all around, she can see that each woman in the visiting book club trio is packing some major emotional baggage. Can these four women unite to improve each other’s lives and make this the start of a new chapter?
The Book Girls Say…
While reading, you’ll dream of the well-stocked library shelves at this Vermont Inn.
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Printable Version of this List
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Read Around the USA – Books Set in Other States
We hope you enjoyed this book list of books about Vermont and found some great titles to add to your TBR. If you’re participating in our Read Around the USA Challenge, be sure to check out our alphabetical index of books set in each state.
