the ask@AAR: What American romances have given you a strong sense of place?
Right now, three of my four children are driving across America, taking ten days to go from the East Coast to the West. One of them is moving to take a new job and his siblings decided to accompany him and see the nation. Thus far, they’ve visited the Civil Rights Museum in Alabama, hiked in the Atchafalaya Basin in Louisiana, slept on the banks of the Mississippi, and sat in the sand dunes of New Mexico.
My family took a similar journey in 1977, driving from San Francisco to South Florida. We’d previously crossed the country, driving from Michigan to San Francisco three years before, and I’ve always been grateful I’ve seen so much of the U.S.A.
Their trip got me thinking about romances that have portrayed places here vividly. I’ve never been to Seattle but Rachel Gibson’s Chinooks series brought that city alive. Susan Elizabeth Phillip’s Hot Shot gets the vibe and energy of early Silicon Valley down perfectly. Kate Meader’s work portrays a Chicago that feels exactly like the city I love to visit. I could go on and on but I’d rather hear from you.
What books have unforgettably rendered a time and a place in America to you? (Next week, I’ll ask about romances set elsewhere!)
I do, I do, I do by Maggie Osborne. I found her descriptions of California and Alaska, especially the Alaskan gold rush frontier, to be captivating. I haven’t read it in years.
The Ravenwood mysteries by Sabrina Flynn are set in San Francisco in 1900. They are not romances, although there is a relationship developing. I’ve rarely read a book where the setting is as much a character as SF is in these novels. The sense of place is strong and vital to the story being told. They are excellent books and beautifully written. From the Ashes is the first one.
Sally Malcolm’s New Milton series – the books take place in an (I think) fictional town on the coast of Long Island. The descriptions of the beach and dunes as well as the changes of seasons are beautiful.
I know many debate the quality of her books but I have always felt that one of the best things Stephenie Meyer did in the Twilight series is portray the setting. Her moody depiction of the Pacific Northwest (Washington state) really worked well with the characters and plot.
I also recently read a YA book called Today Tonight Tomorrow by Rachel Lynn Solomon where the main storyline is a scavenger hunt through Seattle and just brought that city to life delightfully. I have visited Seattle few times and it made me want to go back!
Elizabeth Powell’s westerns, both historical and modern really captured the sense of place for me. The beauty and harshness of the land, the relentless weather, the lush forests and barren lands. I always find them evocative.
Diana Gabaldon’s descriptions of 18thC Scotland and the North Carolina frontier in her Outlander books make you feel part of the landscape.
A Lantern in Her Hand, a book written by a woman (Bess Streeter Aldrich) who was a pioneer of Nebraska in her early life, captures what that life was like, the vast empty prairie, the severe weather, the necessity for neighbors to join together. She wrote several novels about pioneer life in eastern Nebraska, which I would recommend for younger readers. They are more mature than Little House, but still entirely appropriate for readers as young as 10-12. If you have a child doing a unit on pioneer life, this might be good book report material.
Hawaii by James Michener is another novel that made you see and feel the setting. The opening chapters in particular describe how the islands were formed and how they were populated, the flora and fauna, as well as the oceanic influences. It has a very strong sense of place.
That should be Lowell, not Powell.
I love Sara Donati’s historical fiction series that begins with Into the Wilderness. I consider them romances (although some readers might not) and each book has a different setting in North America, and the locations are as much a character in each as are the main characters.
Agree with someone else who mentioned Jo Goodman’s westerns. I’d suggest Maggie Osborne’s westerns (many now out of print) as evoking a sense of place as well, especially I Do, I Do, I Do in which characters travel from Seattle through western Canada to the Yukon.
Also agree with others who mentioned Julie James’ Chicago series and SEP’s Hot Shot (both geographically and culturally).
Love Lettering by Kate Clayborn, Slow Heat in Heaven by Sandra Brown, and The Second Coming of Lucy Hatch by Marsha Moyer — just off the top of my head.
The “Bound for . . .” books by Tess LeSue give strong depictions of the Oregon Trail and the West of that era.
The mountains of Colorado and Wyoming are vividly presented in Jo Goodman’s westerns. I feel in need of a sweater at least when I’m reading about those winters.
I love those books and the world she creates is so palpable.
Mary Stewart was a master at bringing the setting her books to life, whether England, France, or Greece. My dream is to one day (when we can travel again) plot a European tour just to visit the site of each of her books.
When I first began reading romance as an adult, I read Pamela Morsi’s Simple Jess, LaVyrle Spencer’s Morning Glory, and Lorraine Heath’s Always to Remember almost back to back. I feel in love with American-based historical romances through these books and at the time, I was definitely struck by what a strong sense of place they had. To me, the United States can feel like several small countries stitched together and since these novels take place in different locations and varying time periods, they really spoke to how regional differences and historical narratives shape our understanding of what’s American.
Kathleen Gilles Seidel has several books I found very transportative:
Don’t Forget to Smile: an economically struggling rural Oregon logging town
Summer’s End: the Minnesota lakes/cabin country
After All These Years: small town South Dakota
Jayne Ann Krentz and Elizabeth Lowell made Seattle so desirable a place to live in their books that I applied to graduate school at the UW and lived happily on Capital Hill for over a decade. I would still be there now if my husband’s career path didn’t send us to Los Angeles.
I love Aaronovitch’s London and Mansell’s England and I’m so amused about what the Andrews have done to Atlanta. I never had any desire to visit Atlanta until I read Kate Daniels. I can’t remember her name, (Laura ?) but the author who wrote about love, chocolate and cooking made Paris so very vibrant and exciting in her novels.
I agree about Julie James, her love for Chicago shines bright in her books.
It’s funny how much Atlanta has changed since the start of the Kate Daniels books. How certain areas and landmarks were used was a source of humor for me. I wonder how well they represented Houston in the Hidden Legacy books?
You’re thinking of Laura Florand. She does evoke Paris beautifully.
Thank you!
Love Lettering, which I am rereading now, has a great sense of place in terms of New York City. I love the idea of looking for/at signs in NYC.
Jennifer Blake set many of her books in Louisiana. She did write some contemporary romances but most of her books are historical romances. She wrote about the early days of New Orleans and Louisiana, the hand over from France and Spain to the U.S., the Creole and Cajun societies, and their interactions with the African American, Native American, and English speaking white settlers.
For that steamy southern Louisiana bayou feel, I enjoyed Lucky’s Lady by Tami Hoag, and Lethal by Sandra Brown. Slow Heat in Heaven also by Sandra Brown evokes all the bayou feels, but isn’t her best book. I listened to both Sandra Brown books on audio and the narrators really added to the atmosphere.
I’ve rarely had the setting feel so much like a character in a books as I have in the Ravenwood series by Sabrina Flynn. These are more mystery than romance, although there is a slowly developing romance going on, and are set in 1900. The books are so well written. The first book is From the Ashes.
I forgot the setting.Sigh. It’s San Francisco.
Lily Morton does a lovely job establishing a strong sense of place in each of her novels. London, Mallorca, the south of France + lots more. Her reader group is constantly asking her about her settings & posting pictures of the ones they’ve visited for themselves. I have more than one of them on my “one day” trip list, too!
In contemporary romance, Boston almost becomes a character itself in Kate Canterbary’s Walsh Family series (there are eight central books plus a number of off-shoots and “revisits”). The whole series is grounded in Boston life—especially since the family‘a architecture business is heavily involved in the preservation and restoration of historic buildings.
I keep meaning to try one of those!
Although each book is a self-contained romance, I really think it’s a deeper experience if you read the books in order because there are some arcs (especially involving the youngest Walsh sister) that cross over several books.
Gene Stratton-Porter wrote romances in the early 20th century about Michigan’s Limberlost region. The place is as much a character and plot device as the actual characters in her novels. The titles Freckles, The Harvester, and A Girl of the Limberlost re the place to start. The Harvester has a lot about plants and A Girl of the Limberlost a lot about moths.
Correction: The Limberlost was in Indiana. (Sorry. I don’t know why I did not double-check.) Here is an article from earlier this year about the author:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/gene-stratton-porter-americas-fading-natural-beauty-180974161/
Jubilee Trail by Gwen Bristow. I first read it in high school and still have a copy on the keeper shelf decades later. I grew up in Southern California and it was fascinating to visualise it in those times during the Gold Rush. Love that book!!