Scotish Author Ali Smith's "Autumn" is a Novel that Shimmers & Warms the Heart

"Autumn" is the most recent novel by author, journalist & playwright Ali Smith (b. Scotland 1962.)  Smith was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Lit ('07.)   She's been shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize multiple times.  In "Autumn," a girl's coming of age story, Smith enchantingly weaves poetry, philosophy & biopic figures with consummate grace.  Our heroine, Elisabeth is 9 when we first meet her & her single, erratic mother.  The contentious mother/daughter duo have just moved next door to an older, eccentric neighbor.  Elisabeth's mother prefers Elisabeth to shun Daniel Gluck; the dapper gentleman next door.  But, Elisabeth is a curious & precocious person with her own mindset.  She & Daniel form a bond that bridges the generation gap as the years pass.  Their mutual respect & fondness ripens overtime.  Smith's clever writing skews a linear time line.   We are transported in & out of Gluck's mystical trances in his waning years.  Smith enlightens the reader on fascinating, little known figures in the art & music world of London in the 1960's.  Nonetheless, the heart of the novel is driven by the growing attachment between these two interesting main characters & the odd lot of characters & curveball twists that pass over the plot.  "Autumn" is a lovely elegy to life's fleeting beauty & hope.  Smith pays homage to liteary legends Keats, Woolf & Thomas with her own sparkling interpretation.  Autumn is often a metaphor for seasons changing.  Smith's poignant novel reminds us we're here for a mere blink of the eyes.  The cornucopia of hope & human connection glimmers throughout, "We have to hope that the people who love us and who know us a little bit will in the end have seen us truly."  Smith uses Gluck's lyrics from one of his mostly forgotten songs:  "I will find her in the autumn.  Autumn kissed her.  Autumn mist/Summer brother autumn sister.  Autums gone so summers don't exist."  Rare are the works of art that burn so brightly in one's memory.