Seasonal Quartet in Order
Ali Smith’s Seasonal Quartet was written and published quickly, so that each book could respond to events in Britain as they happened, from the Brexit vote to the pandemic. The four novels have separate casts that meet in the last book, with art and artists woven through.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Series facts
The reading order
Every Seasonal Quartet book in publication order. Choose a title for its cast and summary.
- 1Autumn2016With Elisabeth Demand and Daniel GluckIn the months after the Brexit vote, Elisabeth Demand, an art history lecturer, visits Daniel Gluck, the very old neighbour who befriended her as a child and is now sleeping out his last days in a care home.Buy on Amazon
- 2Winter2017With Sophia Cleves and Art ClevesAt Christmas, Sophia Cleves is alone in her large Cornish house when her son Art arrives with a young woman pretending to be his girlfriend, and her estranged sister Iris comes too.Buy on Amazon
- 3Spring2019With Richard Lease and Brittany HallRichard Lease, a grieving film director, is at a railway station in the Scottish Highlands, where he meets Brittany Hall, a guard at an immigration removal centre, and a remarkable schoolgirl named Florence.Buy on Amazon
- 4Summer2020With Sacha GreenlawIn the summer of 2020, teenager Sacha Greenlaw and her family in Brighton are caught up in a story that links back to a summer in wartime and draws together characters from the earlier books.Buy on Amazon
Do you need to read them in order?
Each book can be read alone, but they were written as a sequence and the characters come together in Summer, so publication order is best.
Who appears in which book
The series’ main characters, book by book. Lead means the book is told around them; minor covers cameos.
| Book | Elisabeth Demand | Daniel Gluck | Art Cleves | Sophia Cleves | Richard Lease | Brittany Hall | Sacha Greenlaw |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Autumn | LLead | LLead | |||||
| 2 Winter | LLead | LLead | |||||
| 3 Spring | LLead | LLead | |||||
| 4 Summer | ·Minor | MMajor | MMajor | LLead |
Characters in the Seasonal Quartet books
7 characters from Ali Smith’s chart, with the number of Seasonal Quartet books each appears in.
| Character | Books | First in this series |
|---|---|---|
| Elisabeth DemandArt historian | 2 | Autumn 2016 |
| Daniel GluckHer centenarian neighbour | 2 | Autumn 2016 |
| Art ClevesHer nature-blogger son | 2 | Winter 2017 |
| Sophia ClevesRetired businesswoman | 1 | Winter 2017 |
| Richard LeaseGrieving television director | 1 | Spring 2019 |
| Brittany HallDetention-centre officer | 1 | Spring 2019 |
| Sacha GreenlawTeenage activist | 1 | Summer 2020 |