In a couple days, we are off to Pawleys Island, South Carolina, for a family vacation with Mister and his kin. That is how they say it in his neck of the woods, you know.
This will be my third time at Pawleys, and it’s wonderful. There are pelicans and blue crab and a ghost called the Gray Man who warns residents about coming hurricanes. When the tide goes out, you can find sharks’ teeth in the sand. And, if you’re there at the right time of the summer, sea turtles lay their eggs on the beach at night.
But here’s what I like best about Pawleys–it’s not just a place but a setting. The people shape and are shaped by the terrain and climate and ecology and history. Pawleys is unique. It’s not a could-be-anywhere strip mall or resort. And a setting cries out for a story.
Yesterday a bookseller from @AaronsBooks in PA suggested I read The Richest Season by Maryann McFadden on the trip, since it is set on Pawleys, and there’s nothing like a beach read about the beach you’re sitting on. And yet, for some writers (and readers), setting doesn’t matter very much at all. My guess (and I could be wrong) is that they avoid anchoring their story to any particular place because they don’t want to limit its reach. I heartily disagree. Give me place!
Besides Willa Cather, whom we have lovingly discussed, who do you love to read when you want a sense of place? Or, alternatively, what place do you love as seen through the eyes of a writer?
Here are some of my favorites:
- Laurie Colwin and Julia Glass’s New York City (and its angsty suburbs via Richard Yates)
- John Irving’s Vienna
- Kent Haruf’s fictional small town, Holt, Colorado
You get the idea–now, tell me yours!
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Hemingway spent 20 summers in northern Michigan. Author Michael Federspiel has captured the magic of that special time in his new book, Picturing Hemingway’s Michigan. It has more than 250 photos of Hemingway haunts.
My favorite is Windemere Cottage seen from a boat on Walloon Lake. Hemingway had a photographic memory and 40 years later was still using descriptions of scenes from his teen years in his novels with 100 percent accuracy. Read about the book at
http://mittenlit.com/?p=3735
I had never heard that about Hemingway’s memory. Fascinating!
I love any book set in Paris – every author has a slightly different perspective, and they’re all wonderful.
I definitely agree – place is vitally important!
William Faulkner’s Yoknapatawpha County. It’s pretty amazing
I love Prince Edward Island, as seen through the eyes of Anne (don’t forget the “e”!) of Green Gables. She made it sound so magical and so beautiful. When I finally got the chance to go myself, I did indeed find it gorgeous, but it remains far more beautiful and mystical to me when seen through the eyes of Anne.
Kelly might not approve of me posting this, but I feel that the Anne of Green Gables connection has to be made:
http://www.petoffice.co.jp/catprin/english/#akage
Also, Graham Greene’s setting of Tabasco, Mexico in The Power and the Glory. One of my all time favorite books.
I think Southern writers do a great job of turning place into character. Faulkner’s Mississippi. Breece D’J Pancake’s West Virginia. Tennessee Williams’ New Orleans.
London is virtually a character in the Sherlock Holmes stories. Savannah in Berendt’s Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil also comes to mind; the city really feels like it has a personality independent of its inhabitants.
Email me if you’re coming through Charlotte!!
/selfish interjection