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Books set in Surrey

Surrey does not shy away from the spotlight, appearing liberally featured in some of the most iconic and obscure literature over the decades. 

Equal parts scenic and befittingly brooding, writers have been deferring to the county as an apt backdrop for fictitious love affairs, extra-terrestrial landings and animal adventures since time immemorial. 

The hazy appeal of Surrey’s hills and stately homes makes it an easy setting choice for authors, and a convincing one too for anyone who has lived, worked in or even simply visited the beautiful county. 

Here are some of the books you probably didn't realise were set right on your doorstep…

Emma (Wordsworth Classics): Jane Austen £4.74. Buy now on Amazon.

Emma by Jane Austen

Austen’s beloved novel about an accomplished woman who revels in kindling romance between others whilst eclipsing her own need for it entirely (until she is eventually forced to confront her shortcomings in both) rests easy in its romantic Surrey setting. 

Set in the fictional village of Highbury, with proximity to both London and the surrounding countryside, Austen opts to have one of the most pivotal scenes of the novel play out at a picnic at Box Hill—an iconic Surrey landmark near Dorking. If you fancy recreating their indulgent afternoon without the social fallout, simply hop on the train from Victoria or Waterloo, and it will take you straight to the closest station—Box Hill and Westhumble, from which the top of the hill is an approximate 45-minute walk. 

Austen is known to have traversed Surrey many times in her lifetime, and it is no surprise that other real-world places, such as Richmond, Kingston and Cobham, appear throughout the novel. 

The gorgeous descriptions of the towns, rivers, farms and meadows will be familiar to anyone who is either local to or fond of Surrey, with the characters’ convoluted antics providing readers with their perfect juxtaposition.

Emma, though ‘rich and handsome’ by Austen’s own description, falls victim to her own cleverness at the Box Hill picnic—by rushing to offer a witty response, she insults the already gently self-depricating Miss Bates, and is appropriately reprimanded for her callousness later on by Mr Knightley. In this way, Austen proves there is nothing a well-timed summer picnic can’t elicit in even the most beloved of heroines. 

If you have never ventured to Surrey’s North Downs, neither had Emma—‘Emma had never been to Box Hill; she wished to see what everybody found so well worth seeing’—but its reputation, as it even does in the book, precedes itself.

The War of the Worlds: H.G. Wells £9.99. Buy now on Amazon.

The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells

One of the most renowned science fiction books of the last two centuries, this 1989 novel dramatically transports the reader into a parallel Surrey universe right from the very start, with a meteor crash on Horsell Common in Woking precipitating the landing of Martians in one of its sandpits. 

Wells lived in Woking whilst writing the novel and uses the location as an effective literary device to meld the fantastical with the mundane and known. This, alongside the novel’s echoes of journalistic accounts of actual wars, lends it a realism that is highly compelling.

From Woking to Weybridge and Leatherhead to Chobham, multiple recognisable towns pepper the story, with a diverse array of boroughs across Surrey and London falling victim to complete alien overhaul. 

Though you may vividly recall Tom Cruise starring in Spielberg’s well-received 2005 film adaptation, the book undoubtedly presides as the most compelling version of all of the iterations it has engendered. Under 200 pages and therefore a relatively quick read, immersing yourself in Wells’ replete imaginative landscape should be compulsory for any sci-fi or literature fan. The novel stands as one of the earliest stories to detail conflict between extraterrestrials and humans and is therefore a classic—refreshingly British unlike the Americanised movie. Woking is mentioned a total of 53 times across the whole novel, with Chapter Three literally being entitled, ‘On Horsell Common’. 

Throughout the novel Wells effectively juxtaposes the chaos of the martian landings with the setting of his humble home town—‘When I returned to the common the sun was setting. Scattered groups were hurrying from the direction of Woking, and one or two persons were returning. The crowd about the pit had increased, and stood out black against the lemon yellow of the sky.’ It augments the reader’s awe at the supernatural happenings whilst simultaneously creating a degree of relatability and unparalleled level of realism. 

The novel is simply a must-read for any Surrey resident looking for a personal stake in something fantastical and a fictitious shake-up of their suburban life.   

Atonement: Ian McEwan £8.99. Buy now on Amazon.

Atonement by Ian McEwan

Ian McEwan’s 2001 novel might span decades, but its first part is set in the 1935 fictional Surrey Tallis estate, embedded in the very real Surrey Hills. The building itself is described as a sprawling, gothic mansion, conveying the class disparity between its occupants, the Tallis family, and its serving staff. You may recall the iconic scene from the 2007 film adaptation where older sister Cecilia, beautifully played by Kiera Knightley, emerges from the estate’s fountain in her soaking wet undergarments, having just jumped in it to retrieve a part of a broken vase. Robbie, the housekeeper’s son, looks on in a mixture of heady awe and fading regret about the vase he has just broken—deeply taken by the unspoken sexual tension inherent to the exchange. Briony, Cecilia’s much younger sister, looks on from her window, affronted by it all, and in her childish innocence infers the worst.

That intensely fraught summer’s day in Surrey goes on to set the precedent for the rest of these characters’ lives. 

Wonderfully immersive to both read and watch, Atonement captures the consequences whirling around the seeming suburban idyll of the landed gentry.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone: J.K. Rowling £4.49. Buy now on Amazon.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling

Anybody and everybody who has read the first installation of this 7-book-long series and global phenomenon will be privy to Privet Drive—the humdrum, poised and gloriously ‘normal’ street in suburban England that the Dursleys have the esteemed pleasure of residing in as a means of affirming their own success to themselves. Surrey is first mentioned by name in the book’s third chapter, ‘The Letters from No One’, when Harry receives a mysteriously specific letter addressed to him—‘Yet here it was, a letter, addressed so plainly there could be no mistake: Mr H. Potter, The Cupboard under the Stairs, 4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey’.

Rowling’s fictional town of Little Whinging and the famous Privet Drive are thus elaborated as being Surrey-based, and the film adaptation literally depicts scores of letters with the county emblazoned across their fronts in green ink, pouring in through every orifice in the house as Hogwarts try and secure Harry his letter. 

The school that the Dursleys send their spoilt son, Dudley, to is an all too familiar take on the average Surrey private school, with a decadent uniform satirically replete with knickerbockers and knobbly sticks. All in all, the beginning of the book pins Surrey down to incredibly accurate specifics—tabby cats perusing quiet street corners, a father preoccupied with his responsibilities, and the marked (though temporary) absence of anything strange and mysterious. The county in this way is used to typify a sense of quietude and normalcy before Harry is summoned to Hogwarts, and Rowling’s use of a real place with a reputation for exactly this is what makes it so pertinent.

The Wind in the Willows: Kenneth Grahame £7.99. Buy now on Amazon.

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

This much-loved children’s book classic depicts the famous adventures of its equally beloved characters—Mole, Ratty, Toad and Badger. 

When Mole abandons his spring cleaning one morning, he surfaces from his underground home and catches sight of the river for the first time, embarking upon a series of adventures with Ratty, who helps him aboard his boat and teaches him the ways of the water. 

This river is, of course, the Thames, and the countryside surrounding it, in which Badger and the chaotic though well-meaning Mr Toad reside, is Surrey. The novel is a comforting one, and was actually based upon some of the bedtime stories Grahame told his son. 

The book is ultimately a testament to the power of friendship and the parameters required around freedom if it is ever expected to last. Published in 1908, the classical tale is a bedroom shelf necessity, and a quiet ode to the simultaneous serenity and natural wonder of the glorious Surrey county.

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