Lisa Borgnes Giramonti had families from books in mind when researching “Novel Interiors: Living in Enchanted Rooms Inspired by Literature” (due next month, $35). Scouting homes in Southern California, Manhattan and New Jersey, she found details evoking British moors and New England cottages.

Rough wood furniture on pale stone floors reminded her of chairs at Wuthering Heights that Emily Brontë called “high-backed, primitive structures.” Gently worn sofas raised the specter of drawing-room upholstery described by Jane Austen as “under the influence of four summers and two children.” Overflowing library shelves looked as enticing as Louisa May Alcott’s “wilderness of books,” where Jo March liked to retreat. And rooms piled with unfinished projects called up Virginia Woolf’s taste for some creative chaos of one’s own. Referring to these messy spaces, Ms. Borgnes Giramonti said in an interview, “It means that there’s life and soul and action and ideas.” Information: randomhouse.com.