Confessions of a Settings Junkie

I feel like I have been waiting on Connie Brockway’s The Songbird’s Seduction forever even though the truth is I have only had it on order since early June. I’m not typically a fan of Ms. Brockway’s but my keen desire for the book comes from three key factors: It involves a treasure, foreign locations and the Edwardian era. While one of those is an issue of plotting (treasure), the other two factors are issues of setting. And the fact is I’m a settings junkie.

An author can almost always sell a book to me by placing it in an unusual location or time period. My love of Mary Stewart was motivated not only by her lovely prose but her astounding ability to describe the setting of her novel. Her books were so rich in detailed descriptions of the location that it felt as though you were actually there. One of my favorite set of books is M. M. Kaye’s Death in series. The books took me to Berlin, CyprusKenyaZanzibar, the Andamans, and Kashmir. All of the books are set in the 1950s and 60s and show the sun setting on the British Empire. They are terrific romantic suspense stories but it is the fabulous settings – and the author’s excellent use of said setting – that set them apart from the crowd.

My first Harlequin romance, Lord of La Pampa by Kaye Thorpe, was set in Argentina. It came from my aunt’s collection of books from a time when Harlequin took you all over the world – I remember stories in France, Greece, Italy, Spain, and the jungles of South America. The fabulous locations had me hooked on Harlequin all through my middle school years.

Gothic romances are big on settings as well, and I have to believe that part of my love for this genre comes from that factor. In Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca, the location is a vital factor in the character of Max de Winter. At Manderley, he is a cold, angry man.  Away from it, he is a charming, considerate companion. Manderley itself gets described in more detail than many of the characters. In Simone St. James’ fabulous The Haunting of Maddy Clare, the haunting of the barn at Falmouth House provides the frightening setting for a story of a young girl who endured a horrific crime. Everything about the story revolves around that barn and the events that led up to its haunting. In fact, all three of St. James books – The Haunting of Maddy ClareAn Inquiry Into Love and Death and Silence for the Dead – depend heavily on the setting of the story. It is no accident that the cover of most gothic romances focuses on a heroine and a house, not a heroine and a hero.

Like the gothic, science fiction and fantasy can be strongly dependent on location. The writers have to work hard to establish realistic or enchanting settings that will engage with their readers. The Potter novels by J.K. Rowling not only have the terrific location of Hogwarts but there is the candy shop Honey Dukes, the store created by Fred and George – Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes, and of course the source of all those butter beers, The Three Broomsticks. In fact, I’ve mentioned just a few of the beloved settings within the series. Rowling did a terrific job of bringing the reader into Harry’s world through fabulous descriptions of the places Harry went to and lived in.

Suzanne Collins created a very different world than Rowling’s for her Hunger Games series but the locations are equally important to her story. The contrast between the wealthy, decadent Capital and the impoverished District 12 are central to the tale and those locations have to come alive before the reader can really understand the conflict. The killing arenas of each of the hunger games are also vital to the story and we feel in each instance as though we are trapped in the domes with Katniss.

Setting is not just location, however, but also time period. In my freshmen year of high school I discovered single title romances. A friend of my mother’s gave me The Wolf and the Dove by Kathleen Woodiwiss. I had read many books set in the medieval period, most notably Sir Walter Scot’s Ivanhoe, but The Wolf and the Dove with its dark and violent romance seemed to my teenage self like Ivanhoe with the rose tinted glasses thrown aside.  I began to glom historicals taking place in time periods that covered everything from the medieval period to the Regency.  In recent years the 20th century has become my favorite time period, especially the years 1900 to 1970. I love the glamour of the 20s and 60s, the look at the war years of the first and second world wars and the look at the difficult circumstances of the 1930s.  The 1950s and their link to the start of rock and roll and the glamour of Hollywood fascinate me as well.

While a good setting will always catch my eye, though, it is only one of the elements of fiction. The others are: plot, character, point of view, style, theme and prose (tone and language). Reading A Rose in Flanders Field by Terri Nixon brought home to me just how vital it is to enjoy all the elements of a story in order to consider it a good book.  A Rose in Flanders Field takes place during WWI, one of my very favorite time periods. It tells the story of aristocrat Evie Creswell who leaves her pampered life to drive an ambulance in France – this just happens to be a favorite plot for me. Evie is married to Will Davies, who until the war was working as a butcher’s boy; across the tracks happens to be a favorite trope for me. The story included all the action and melodrama of a good season of Downton Abbey, a show I thoroughly enjoy. It was told in first person singular and I’ve always liked that point of view when it is used correctly. And yet I was relieved when I finished the book and was able to turn in my review.  What went wrong? I think the author’s writing style simply might not have clicked with me. She was heavy on action where I love a good character driven tale. That disconnect from character and prose was a stumbling block that kept me from being enthralled by a story that was interesting but ultimately, for me, lacking in heart. Not a bad book per se but definitely one that didn’t go above okay.

So how about for you? How important is setting to you in a book? Do you enjoy visiting a particular setting over and over or are you an armchair adventurer in search of exciting locations? Which authors do you feel do a terrific job of putting you in the time and place of their stories? What books do you think exemplify use of setting?

 

Maggie AAR

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Bona
Bona
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09/16/2014 3:31 am

The setting is very important to me in the sense that if I don’t see historical or geographical accuracy, I cannot really enjoy the book. I dislike many talented writers because they seem unable to create a good setting. Their characters sound like modern teenagers disguised as Regency/Medieval/whatever in a cardboard setting. I just hate it.

I don’t enjoy visiting a particular setting over and over in Romance novels. I expect something different in each book, I like adventure, travels, and so on.

Two examples of what I like in this department: Sherry Thomas and Meljean Brook (the steampunk novels).

And then, Laura Kinsale. Her reconstruction of a Europe devastated by the plague in ‘For my Lady’s heart’ is just awesome. That is a good historical novel. Amazing. I haven’t seen anything like that in years.

Blackjack1
Blackjack1
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Reply to  Bona
09/16/2014 3:56 am

Kinsale really is a unique voice in the genre and I miss her writing!

maggie b.
maggie b.
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Reply to  Bona
09/16/2014 10:47 am

I was disappointed in Kinsale’s latest (French something?) but yes, her old books were really amazing.

Sheri Cobb South
Sheri Cobb South
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09/16/2014 3:10 am

I love to travel, and looking back, I wonder how much of that goes back to a steady diet of Mary Stewart and other romantic suspense writers during my teenage years! My husband and I are hoping to go on a Mediterranean cruise next year for our 35th wedding anniversary, and I’m sorely tempted to take notes for an “”old school”” romantic suspense novel of my own.

I’m glad to see M. M. Kaye’s DEATH IN . . . novels get a shout-out here, too. They’re frequent re-reads for me.

maggie b.
maggie b.
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Reply to  Sheri Cobb South
09/16/2014 10:46 am

So glad to find another fan! There are only a few of them but I really love these books. I was trying to pick a favorite and honestly, the only one I didn’t completely love was Andamans (although it was interesting). But I adored the zany young heroine in Zanzibar, the mystery in Berlin (I love charm bracelets and this one was just too perfect!), and the group of people in Cyprus were just too darn fun. The kiss as distraction in Kashmir was pretty awesome too.

Sheri Cobb South
Sheri Cobb South
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Reply to  maggie b.
09/16/2014 11:21 am

The killer in Kashmir turned out to be one of my favorite characters! (I hate it when that happens!)

And I love the introduction to the Andamans, where she talks about how she and a friend were cut off from the mainland by a storm, and passed the time by crafting a murder mystery cast from the other stranded tourists. This delighted me, because my sister and I used to do something very similar as teenagers whenever we went with Dad to the airport. We would pick out a random traveler to be the one attempting to smuggle the secret documents out of the country, another to be his/her contact, etc.

Blackjack1
Blackjack1
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09/15/2014 7:02 pm

Setting is so important and I connect it very much to historical period, which is one of the reasons why I think literature should be/needs to be read as historical documents as much as literary pieces. This is especially the case with documents that actually do emerge out of historical periods, but it is also true of contemporary writing that looks back on history (historical fiction) or even contemporary writing set in a contemporary period. We learn so much about a culture and nation by understanding literature as historical products.

My favorite settings include the mid-Victorian period and the Edwardian period in Great Britain, as well as early modern (Renaissance) period writing. I also enjoy Asian historical writing, such as Jeannie Lin’s books and am about to read Sherry Thomas’s new books, set in 19th century China. Connie Brockway’s new book is one I am very much looking forward to reading.

maggie b.
maggie b.
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Reply to  Blackjack1
09/15/2014 7:08 pm

I’ve added the Thomas to my TBR although I fear it will be awhile before I get to it. I love Lin’s books and hope that some day we will see many more books like them.

Alyssa Everett
Alyssa Everett
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09/15/2014 11:23 am

I completely agree about the importance of setting in gothics. It’s so critical to feel that the heroine has been removed from the safe, modern (to her) world full of family and friends who might serve as a potential support network for her, and plunged into a shadowy, isolating, and unfamiliar world where the hero holds all the power. I expect that’s why Jane Austen, instead of calling her parody gothic something like Instruction and Intuition or Catherine, chose instead to call it Northanger Abbey.

maggie b.
maggie b.
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Reply to  Alyssa Everett
09/15/2014 11:46 am

Good point, Alyssa re Northanger Abbey. As I said in the blog, the gothic is almost more about the girl and the house than the girl and the hero. It’s almost like the house is a part of a love triangle. I think that is why Manderley had to be destroyed in Rebecca -as long as Manderley remained, there was a third party in their marriage.

Sheri Cobb South
Sheri Cobb South
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Reply to  maggie b.
09/16/2014 11:40 pm

Oh maggie b., what a wonderful insight regarding Manderley! I hadn’t thought of it that way before, but I think you’re absolutely right.

LeeB.
LeeB.
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09/15/2014 9:55 am

I love to travel in books and have made notes to explore places I have read about. One author that springs immediately to mind is Susanna Kearsley whose books inspired me to visit Chinon (The Splendour Falls) and Mantova/Mantua (Season of Storms).

maggie b.
maggie b.
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Reply to  LeeB.
09/15/2014 10:56 am

I envy you your travels, Lee. And yes, Kearsley is fabulous at locations. In fact, I think a setting has to be a strong point for any gothics author. If we can’t feel the location the book looses something.

Lynne Connolly
Lynne Connolly
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09/15/2014 7:38 am

When I travel, I take copious notes about the place I’m visiting. I do it while I’m sitting somewhere, so I can “”get”” the atmosphere, and they’re like other people’s photographs, although I take those too!

maggie b.
maggie b.
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Reply to  Lynne Connolly
09/15/2014 10:55 am

I’ve often wondered how authors can capture locations where they don’t live. I’ve moved several times and it amazes how long it can take to get a real feel for the new place. Notes sound like an excellent idea – a picture captures looks but smells and ambiance are every bit as important.

Leigh
Leigh
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Reply to  Lynne Connolly
09/15/2014 11:46 am

I do like books in different settings — There is a fine line though between too much descriptive info, and telling the story. I like it when I see the place through the character’s eyes bits and pieces at a time, rather than a info dump at the beginning of the book.

I love reading books by authors from the U.K./Australia/Canada because to them they are just describing “”normal things”” but to me their language makes me feel like I am traveling.

maggie b.
maggie b.
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Reply to  Leigh
09/15/2014 12:15 pm

I agree re the authors from different locations. I also feel like they really get the attitudes right, whereas American writers tend to describe the heck out of London and have the characters behave as Americans.

What drives me crazy though are the books with no description. I have no idea of time or place because the author is trying to appeal to everyone.

Minnis
Minnis
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09/15/2014 7:02 am

I agree, Maggie. My love of books with evocative settings goes back to my childhood, when Rosemary Sutcliff swept me into times and places far from my home. I graduated to Mary Stewart and Georgette Heyer, who both combined setting with so much more.

In recent years, I have explored the US with Nora Roberts, lingered in Alaska with Dana Stabenow and seen my own stomping grounds (Australia) through fresh eyes with Bronwen Parry.

Last month, I travelled the Silk Road by reading Dana Stabenow’s Everything Under the Heavens. I’m now waiting for the second book in this series; even an unnecessary cliff-hanger ending hasn’t spoilt my anticipation.

maggie b.
maggie b.
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Reply to  Minnis
09/15/2014 10:53 am

Ah, those unnecessary cliff hangers-how I hate them. I love the Silk Road location and should have mentioned Jeannie Lin. She does a great job with making ancient China come alive. I’ll have to check out Stabenow. Thanks for bringing her to my attention!

Minnis
Minnis
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Reply to  maggie b.
09/15/2014 4:12 pm

Be aware that Dana Stabenow is not a romance writer, and definitely not to be recommended if a HEA is mandatory.

maggie b.
maggie b.
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Reply to  Minnis
09/15/2014 7:05 pm

Thanks for the heads up re the HEA. I read plenty of books without them so it shouldn’t be an issue :-)