I can't avoid mentioned Boccaccio's Decameron here. A group of young men and women flee to the countryside during the bubonic plague (it was written contemporary to the plague), and begins with an introduction where the author describes his experience (read the intro if nothing else).

From there, it's got a variety of stories that interact with a framing story of the people playing a story telling game. I find it a very relaxing book, the stories feel low stakes somehow, and are a mix between familiar chestnuts and others that are very strange for a modern reader.