Abstract
Ali Smith wrote Autumn in the aftermath of the 2016 referendum which led to Brexit, or Britain exiting from the European Union. ‗… People waking up feeling cheated … no matter what they voted‘ (p. 197). British society became polarised, just like many other countries after 9/11. Thus, Smith‘s work cuts across boundaries of space and time, and achieves universal relevance. The story is basically about friendship between old Daniel Gluck and child Elisabeth Demand. They are both ‗queens‘ (p. 52), Daniel because he may be gay and Elisabeth because she may trigger change in local politics. In the narrative, Daniel is near death but he has trained Elisabeth to help restore life, sanity and beauty to the world. Elisabeth‘s mother Wendy understands the magic of their bond. She recollects the story‘s primary image that Elisabeth, despite her vivid reminiscences, had forgotten: Daniel and Elisabeth sitting in a box of light in his backyard watching movies on starry summer nights (p. 215).