Maybe not the most mainstream example to use, but Marnie is a book that was adapted to a Studio Ghibli film so I figure it can't be that obscure. It's set in an English coastal village around a beach and salt marshes. I read it after watching the film and just loved it. I've found it hard to find recommendations based on the setting because Amazon just assumes I want more books that were adapted into Ghibli films. I've looked up Joan G. Robinson's other books and they either just don't interest me or (more commonly) have been out of print for decades and are impossible to find below $50.
I don't mind the British…ness of it (I find it endearing), I don't mind if it's a young adult book (I've been reading fantasy doorstoppers for decades and it's nice reading 200-300-page novels that are self-contained stories).
Key elements I'm looking for:
-Vivid descriptions of the countryside/natural landscapes
-Small cast of characters
-Story doesn't have to be complex, just enough to be interesting
-Not mandatory but a main character who begins the story as depressed/a loner and transforms by the end of the story
I feel like this is a pretty common formula and I've compiled a few books that fit the criteria but I'm sure there are plenty of once-beloved books that fit this description that have either been largely forgotten.
by LastBallade