Guest post written by author Barbara Linn Probst
Barbara Linn Probst is the award-winning, Amazon best-selling author of Queen of the Owls, The Sound Between the Notes, and The Color of Ice. She has also published over sixty essays on the craft of writing and the writing life, and is a sought-after presenter at writers’ conferences. Barbara lives on an historic dirt road in New York’s Hudson Valley and is celebrating the launch of The Color of Ice, which released on October 18! Learn more at her website.
Location, location, location is a well-known meme in real estate about the three things that matter most.
For a story, though, not necessarily. Sometimes, the setting is simply a container for the events, which would be just as compelling no matter where they took place. At other times, the setting is absolutely vital and we feel, when we read the story, that it could only have happened right there, in that very spot. The landscape, climate, even the architecture—right down to the light, heat, cold, noise, and sky—shape the lives and actions of the characters. That was certainly true for me when I was writing The Color of Ice, which is set in Iceland. I knew I wanted to write a story about a woman’s opening to passion, forgiveness, and redemption—and Iceland’s blue icebergs, waterfalls, and thermal fields showed me the way.
Every story takes place somewhere. Here are five that only could have taken place exactly where they did.
MIGRATIONS by Charlotte McConaghy
Haunting, gripping, huge in scale yet heartbreakingly intimate, Migrations takes the reader on a literal voyage from Greenland to Antarctica as protagonist Franny Stone sets out to find the last surviving flock of Arctic terns and follow them on their final migration to Antarctica. The inner and outer voyages are perfect mirrors as the fishing vessel Saghani faces greater and greater peril, while Franny’s dark past catches up with her and she begins to unravel. Charlotte McConaghy’s book is a stunner—a perfectly-crafted blend of character, setting, and plot that’s impossible to forget.
DISAPPEARING EARTH by Julia Phillips
Another riveting novel, gorgeously written, part thriller and part ethnography—Disappearing Earth takes the reader deep into the little-known landscape and culture of the remote Kamchatka peninsula. Weaving together the lives and perspectives of twelve women and girls in the months following a shocking crime, Julia Phillips offers a richly-drawn portrait of a complex region in a story that feels both unique and universal. It’s Kamchatka’s story too. Like Migrations, you won’t be able to stop reading until you come to an ending that feels both surprising and absolutely right.
THE ALL-NIGHT SUN by Diane Zinna
The “all-night sun” is Midsommar’s Eve in Sweden, where Diane Zinna’s novel is set—an evening when the sun never sets, no one sleeps, boundaries disappear, and light and darkness blur. The story opens with a description of Sweden that Lauren, the protagonist, can’t resist. She impulsively accepts an invitation from one of her college students to spend the summer in Sweden, a place of magic and mystery that will change her in ways she can’t foresee. A beautifully-crafted story, lyrical and dreamlike, The All-Night Sun is another glorious novel where setting is key.
EUPHORIA by Lily King
Leaving the northern ice and frozen tundra behind, we move to the lush, steaming jungle of New Guinea where Lily King’s novel—inspired by events in the life of iconic anthropologist Margaret Mead—is set. A love triangle that a New York Times reviewer called “a tale of competing egos and desires in a landscape of exotic menace,” Euphoria is about love, jealousy, ambition, cultural collision, and loss. Landscape is crucial in the sensory detail that imbues every scene. The precision of King’s writing is a marvel. (And oh, that opening page!)
THE LAST ROSE OF SHANGHAI by Weina Dai Randel
Finally, we head north again, midway between New Guinea and Kamchatka, to Shanghai in the early days of World War Two. The Last Rose of Shanghai is a powerful love story about two people from vastly different backgrounds, but it’s also the story of two cultures, imperiled by the same war. Protagonists Aiyi and Ernest—and the city of Shanghai itself, like a third protagonist—must grapple with destruction, loss, and unwelcome change. Weina Dai Randel’s unique and beautifully-written novel, embedded in time and place, is one you won’t want to miss.
