Literary Places

by Sarah Baxter, Amy Grimes (Illustrator)

Inspired Traveller’s Guide: Literary Places takes you on an enlightening journey through the key locations of literature’s best and brightest authors, movements and moments – brought to life through comprehensively researched text and stunning hand-drawn artwork.

Travel journalist Sarah Baxter provides comprehensive and atmospheric outlines of the history and culture of 25 literary places around the globe, as well as how they intersect with the lives of the authors and the works that make them significant. Full-page colour illustrations instantly transport you to each location. You’ll find that these places are not just backdrops to the tales told, but characters in their own right.

Travel to the sun-scorched plains of Don Quixote’s La Mancha, roam the wild Yorkshire moors with Cathy and Heathcliff or view Central Park through the eyes of J.D. Salinger’s antihero. Explore the lush and languid backwaters of Arundhati Roy’s Kerala, the imposing precipice of Joan Lindsay’s Hanging Rock and the labyrinthine streets and sewers of Victor Hugo’s Paris.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, Books About Books, Art, Literary Fiction, Literature, Reference

144 pages, Hardcover

First published January 22, 2019

About the author

Sarah Baxter is a writer, book author and editor specialising in travel, adventure, history and the great outdoors. In the name of exploration, she's climbed Kilimanjaro, snorkelled with killer whales, eaten sheep's brain, walked on the wings of a bi-plane, descended into an Icelandic volcano, learned to salsa in Barcelona and much, much more. Formerly deputy editor at Wanderlust travel magazine, she now writes for a range of outlets including The Telegraph, The Independent, iPaper, Wanderlust, Sunday Times Travel magazine, Country Walking and others. She has also authored many books, including A History of the World in 500 Walks, The Inspired Traveller's Guide to Spiritual Places and Lonely Planet's Where to Go When.

Reviews

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is beautifully illustrated by Amy Grimes. It is considered an “inspired traveller’s guide."

A guide one would use if you wanted to visit all the places that authors went to as they were writing their great masterpieces.

Interestingly enough, I never heard of this book before. I was doing an online search for a book on my library’s website, when this one came up. I thought it looked interesting, so decided to order it.

Each page references a city devoted to an author, based on their book.

As an example, you have Monterey, CA. The illustration features the Monterey Canning Company. The Which represents Cannery Row by John Steinbeck, 1945. The What is the beautiful oceanside street ‘where life at its most colorful ebbs and flows.’

On this page about Monterey and cannery row, the author starts by sharing, “in the early pearly morning, The Row begins to wake. Gulls start their vigils on corrugated-iron rooftops, waiting for trash to become lunch; sea lions bark like hunting dogs over the heave of the ocean.”

I love the way she transports us there.

Each page carries the same type of story. Honoring an iconic masterpiece classic story, whether it is The Catcher in the Rye-Sallinger/New York, or Wuthering Heights-Bronte/Yorkshire Moors or For Whom the Bell Tolls-Hemingway/Sierra de Guadarrama we are mesmerized by Baxter's descriptive words and the illustrator’s gorgeous illustrations.

Baxter takes us to 25 author locations. I won’t say which books, other than what I mentioned above…the exploration should be by the reader.

For anyone planning a literary travel adventure, this would be a great book to review first.

There is something beautiful and nostalgic about the scenic pleasures of both the words and visual colors that are pleasing and delightful to experience in this book.

Where shall we trip to first?

[Diane Barnes · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book descriptions by Sarah Baxter were works of art in themselves, and the illustrations by Amy Grimes were charming and colorful. However, when you're reading about the griminess and unsanitary streets and alleyways of Dicken's London, or the bleakness of Turgenev's Moscow, colorful and charming hit the wrong note. I did enjoy browsing through this book slowly, but the prose and the artwork just didn't jive in many cases. 4 stars for the art, 4 stars for the writing, is going to equal 3 stars for this one from me.

[The Sassy Bookworm · Rating 5 out of 5]

The predominant appeal of this book by far are the illustrations. They are gorgeous and unique. Sarah Baxter brings twenty-five well known literary settings to life. Each offering the reader both a visually pleasing and informative experience. I would love to own this one as a coffee-table book!

Paris, Les Misérables
Dublin, Ulysses
Florence, A Room with a View
Naples, My Brilliant Friend
Berlin, Berlin Alexanderplatz
Nordland, Growth of the Soil
St Petersburg, Crime and Punishment
Sierra de Guadarrama, For Whom the Bell Tolls
La Mancha, Don Quixote
Davos, The Magic Mountain
Bath, Northanger Abbey & Persuasion
London, Oliver Twist
Soweto, Burger’s Daughter
Kerala, The God of Small Things
Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City), The Quiet American
Kabul, The Kite Runner
Hanging Rock, Picnic at Hanging Rock
New York, The Catcher in the Rye
Monterey, Cannery Row
Mississippi River, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Monroeville, To Kill a Mockingbird
Cartagena, Love in the Time of Cholera
Chile, The House of the Spirits
Yorkshire Moors, Wuthering Heights
Cairo, Palace Walk

[Literary Redhead · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this beautifully illustrated coffee table book by travel journalist Sarah Baxter, which offers a colorful look at 25 literary locations around the world. You’ll be introduced to Heathcliff’s gloomy moors, Hugo’s City of Light, Quixote’s sunny La Mancha, with details on how place, culture and history impact famous authors’ famous works. With gratitude to author Sarah Baxter, Quarto Publishing Group - White Lion Publishing, and Netgalley for the ARC. 5 of 5 stars.

[Julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

The writing and the illustrations seem at odds with one another. Initially, I was excited by the idea of a book based on traveling to places I had discovered through reading literary fiction, however my actual experience of this book is more of a textbook experience with illustrations that don't match the sophistication of the text. It might have been better to use actual photographs or liven the text.

[Meike · Rating 3 out of 5]

Less a travel guide and more a coffee table book, Baxter entertains her readers with charming short texts about the places where major literary works are set. We hear about the meaning of those places in the context of the stories, but also in real life - but these are no elaborate or even scientific examinations, mind you, but small vignettes that intend to evoke an atmosphere. The effect is supported by lovely drawings by Amy Grimes that dominate the whole book.

The "literary places" and their respective books are:

Paris, "Les Misérables"
Dublin, "Ulysses"
Florence, "A Room With a View"
Naples, "My Brilliant Friend"
Berlin, "Berlin Alexanderplatz"
Nordland, "Growth of the Soil"
St. Petersburh, "Crime and Punishment"
Sierra de Guadarrama, "For Whom the Bell Tolls"
La Mancha, "Don Quixote"
Davos, "The Magic Mountain"
Bath, "Northanger Abbey" & "Persuasion"
London, "Oliver Twist"
Yorkshire Moors, "Wutherin Heights"
Cairo, "Palace Walk"
Soweto, "Burger's Daughter"
Kerala, "The God of Small Things"
Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City), "The Quiet American"
Kabul, "The Kite Runner"
Hanging Rock, "Picnic at Hanging Rock"
New York, "The Catcher in the Rye"
Monterey, "Cannery Row"
Mississippi River, "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn"
Monroeville, "To Kill a Mockingbird"
Cartagena, "Love in the Time of Cholera"
Chile, "The House of the Spirits"

Full disclosure: My epub ARC expired before I could read the whole thing, but I think I got a decent impression of the book.

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Never was a title more apt and in just a heading, sums the book up better than any review.

Taking some iconic and other less visited destinations, Sarah Baxter has brought places alive where various books and novels have been set or an author has been influence by such a location.
Charles Dicken's London as described in Oliver Twist, Soweto through the eyes of Nadine Gordimer and Bath where Jane Austen is still remembered and most consider Northanger Abbey and Persuasion as true examples of English Literature.
I enjoyred reading about Paris, Kabul and Cairo, indeed each essay holds some interest for me regardless of the work and author it relates to and despite being a place I'd never considered a travel destination.
Sarah Baxter has a distinct style to make each setting come alive, your senses are stimulated and the artwork of Amy Grimes compliments this wonderfully where photographs would perhaps reflect a different mood. Sarah uses every creative skill to pen a brief discription of the place, including: cliché, alliteration and onomatopoeia. This creates a sence of being there. She also links this with a knowledge of the original location and it's connection to the author of the book that relates to it. Therefore in many cases she enables one to follow in the footsteps of writers with care to connect fiction with streets and buildings.
I absolutely absorbed each chapter and in nearly every case either made me want to pick up the original novel or dream of visiting these special settings for myself.
Overall, it has given me renewed memories of cities I have visited and rekindled an affinity to some treasured books and authors. Any book that both makes you want to visit the places your imagination has taken you and gives you a desire to read more is a sure winner for me.

[Jeannette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Also available on the WondrousBooks blog.

This was such a great piece! Literary Places is one of those few books that I've read as an e-book and would be more than happy to buy as a hardcopy, as well.

Let's start with the title, though, "Inspired Traveller's Guide". I peeked at the worse reviews on Goodreads and realized that the majority of people who rated this book with 3 or less stars did so because they felt mislead by the title. If you're expecting a lengthy novel which you can use step by step to literally follow the characters of certain novels on their journeys, this is not it.

I, however, had no such expectations. I kind of expected that the book will cover a bunch of locations with brief stories about them and lovely pictures, and even though the book does exactly that, it still impressed me and surpassed my expectations.

Literary Places is a short book which paints luscious landscapes and beautiful, if short, descriptions of literary locations. It takes you through Victor Hugo's Paris of Les Miserables, the St Petersburg of Crime and Punishment, and Don Quixote's La Mancha, as well as some not so popular locations, like the Rock from Picnic at the Hanging Rock, and Kerala from The God of Small Things.

The book offered me a new look into locations which I've already visited through reading some, if unfortunately few, of the novels mentioned, but it also inspired me to read many new ones and created an entirely new reading list for me for the upcoming year. It would be a real pleasure to read the books that I hadn't, now that I've read Sarah Baxter's short guide for them.

The second thing I really liked was the simple, yet attractive way the author makes descriptions. In fact, although the book is very small, it manages to capture the best and most important details, the essence of the literary places:

THE AFTERNOON is heavy, hazy, lazy; the viscid air, damp as an unwrung sponge, awaits the imminent squeeze of the monsoon. For now, it’s curry-hot, the sun beating indiscriminately on red ants and yellow bullfrogs, whooping coucals and long-legged lily-trotters. It glitters on the corpses of silver fish. It nurtures the mango and jackfruit. Then, finally, the sky cracks.

Or...

Florence is culturally magnificent, from the priceless art at street level to the tip of the Duomo’s cupola. But there’s also the Florence of the senses, the city that comes alive when you feel its hot sun on your skin. When you loiter over lunch, take a slow passeggiata in the cooling afternoon, watch a pink-orange sunset, sip a glass of good Chianti. When you stop questing for information but think of ‘nothing but the blue sky and the men and the women who live under it’.

I want a plane ticket now!

Lastly, the art of the book is so simple, yet so enticing. It manages to show exactly what the author describes, but to do so while also presenting the location perfectly, so that the reader knows exactly which city we're talking about, without even having visited them.

[Clare O'Beara · Rating 4 out of 5]

The tautology of describing a character as "Naïve ingénue Lucy", and mixing up Joyce's 'Ulysses' with his 'Finnegans Wake' - it's the latter which is considered the most unreadable book in literature - as well as the confusion between interred and interned, mean that this book could probably have benefited from an editor.

The concept is alluring; pick 25 of the cities or other places represented in world literature and describe how we can return to the scenes of the books. Paris of Victor Hugo was a stinking, crowded, dark city; the modernisation swept away many streets and created those wide boulevards, too big to barricade. But some of the locations can still be found. Similarly, Florence of A Room With A View is still a warm, scented, cultured contrast with an English city, while Naples still has the mafia and backdrop of Vesuvius experienced in M'Amica Geniale or My Brilliant Friend. The Spanish mountains of For Whom The Bell Tolls are still available for walkers. Yes, we can go and visit, even time travel. Dickens' London, Austen's Bath. Mahfouz's Cairo, Gordimer's Soweto, Hosseini's Kabul, Twain's Mississippi.

We get a little of the life of each author, and where they are buried, in case we'd like to visit the tomb / grave. Some authors later became controversial. Quite a few are Nobel laureates, or Booker winners, or similar. This may have been a standard used for selection. Because of this, you could also take the book as a guide to a list of literature to read and cross off, in order to be well-read and well travelled. I haven't read all the books. And confession time: I had presumed that The Catcher in The Rye was about a farming community. Rye fields. Apparently it's set in New York City. I had never heard anything about this book that made me interested in reading it. After this summary, I definitely am not interested, and I still don't know where the rye comes in. I did read Harper Lee's book aged 12, and I was fascinated to find how much of the action I could retrace today.

The account I enjoyed most in this book is how scholars puzzled out clues from Don Quixote to recreate the journeys of the book across La Mancha, where today we can see museums, plazas with statues of characters and a preserved farmhouse. The illustrations are simplistic and, as described at the back of the book, bright and bold. The idea is to capture the essence of each locale rather than to reproduce faithfully. I could not see all of them in my e-ARC but I enjoyed the pictures I did see.

I downloaded an e-ARC from Net Galley. This is an unbiased review.

[Calzean · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice little book that provides a summary of 25 major fictional books and describes the location, era and the author's link to the setting. There's 2-3 pages of text an 2-3 pages of illustrations for each book. Initially the artwork didn't grab me but gradually I could see that it worked.
This book provides a nice intro into the "famous" novels and is what it is - a bit of a traveller's guide into various locations throughout the world.

[Ezgi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Romanlarla özdeşleşen şehirlere göz atmak için çok tatlı bir çalışma. İllüstrasyonlar güzel. Seçilen yirmi beş kitap da ilgi çekiciydi. Tam anlamıyla bir coffee table book. Bahsedilen romanı okumak ya da şehre gitmiş olmak daha eğlenceli yapıyor.

[eyes.2c · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Truly great writers recreate not only locations but also eras and histories."


If you have a literary bent and are contemplating travel this is a fascinating book. Even if your not venturing to far flung place, this gem of a book will allow loads of armchair traveling.
Twenty-five locations were chosen from St Petersburg in Russia to Saigon in Vietnam and places both north and south of the equator and around the globe encompassing longitudes from England to Chile.
I grappled with artist's impressions for the first couple of chapters. I am used to, and was expecting photographs, ideally artistically shot. You know a bridge or archway looming through the bull rushes taken from a prone position etc. etc.
But here we have artistic impressions by Amy Grimes, superbly rendered, colorful, and often showing a 'naive' primitivism influence, with occasional magic realism touches. These art works, capturing the essence of places as we're guided through select novel pathways, are beautiful additions.
So this was unexpected! I was envisaging maps and photos to support Baxter's inclusions and find this literary discussion of the place, time and background of a selected novel, supported by Grimes' delicately nuanced works, rewarding. I found myself enjoying this different approach. And I remembered the small book and pencils I used to carry with me to do sketches with. Nowhere near as creative as Grimes' digital collage works and overlays, but I identified with the process. (BTW reading more about Grimes's artistic methods via other access points was interesting.)
In fact I was disappointed there weren't more illustrations. They were the deciding factor for me between a four star or a five star rating.
Fortunately I have read most of the books selected, and more fortunately I have visited many of their locations. So Baxter's book reminded me of not only the associated books, but my own responses to the novels and to their locations. The particular places recalled to me the times and conditions in which the novels were set, be it at the time of the Hemingway and the Spanish Wars, Steinbeck and Cannery Row in Monterey or Austen's Bath.
I would not be taking this book with me on a trip (unless in eBook form) but I would read it before and after I travelled to any of the places mentioned--just for the pleasure it gives. This is a book to be enjoyed in hardcopy, to be held, to have paper pages turning and to be enjoyed at that physical level.
'Picnic at Hanging Rock' by Joan Lindsay set near Mt Macedon, Victoria, Australia was a favorite, as was the 'God of Small Things' by Arundhati Roy set in Kerala in Southern India. And yes, I had many more favs but I didn't want to list all twenty-five.
A most pleasing publication!


A White Lion Publishing ARC via NetGalley

[Peter Tillman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good, if scattershot, book on, well, read the publisher's introduction above first. Editor Baxter picked the books and wrote the essays, and they are mostly familiar titles. I'd read maybe a quarter of them? Or tried to, such as "Don Quixote," which I gave up on. No matter. The book is intended for the armchair literary traveler, although it does include some travel tips. Or as a gift for a book-loving friend. The illustrations, by Amy Grimes, are cheerful and fun. Here are some samples, with promotional copy: https://www.thebooktrail.com/authorso... Lightweight book, in both senses -- worth a browse, if your library has a copy.

[Tripfiction · Rating 4 out of 5]

Top titles to fuel your armchair travel!



The author wonderfully brings together a collection of literary places, featuring 25 selected books, set all around the world. The settings in the chosen titles are absolutely characters in their own right.

“Writers build places… destinations you can find on a map. And sometimes they manage to make those real places feel more real than any photo ever could. They render locations large in mere ink, perfectly capturing their sights, sounds, smells and essence, turning a previously blank sheet into a teleport for the reader’s imagination”

In these days of lockdown, when travel is still not an option, we need the connection to other places and people, just to keep our horizons open. We need the hope that we can once again spread our wings. Literary Places comprises an overview of 25 books, now all classic titles, in the hope that by reading about these wonderful written worlds, readers will feel inspired to either read the original works or continue their literary travels by searching out more globe-trotting books (and of course you know where to find your next title for literary wanderlust!). The author offers a wonderful and detailed synopsis for each chosen title, in a Blinkist kind of way, sufficient to tempt new readers to pick up a book.

You might even choose to visit the settings of some of the books, now there’s an idea!

She doesn’t shy away from historical novels which often offer insight into events and people that have shaped the places we visit today. The Cairo Trilogy by Naguib Mahfouz sets the location scene as much as the descriptions of food and life, religion and architecture. Historical books offer the echoes of footsteps past.

‘Travel’ to Davos with Thomas Mann’s The Magic Mountain where Hans Castorp visits a cousin with tuberculosis at the Berghof Sanatorium. Sanatoria were thriving in the early 20th Century until penicillin was discovered and now many of the institutions have been turned into hotels. The present day Schatzalp, served by a funicular railway, could have been the model for Mann’s hotel – it opened as a luxury clinic in 1900 (the light box panels above the bar reveal that this used to be the X-Ray room!).

The God of Small Things (winner of the 1997 Booker Prize) by Arundhati Roy is the ultimate book for literary travel to Kerala. She addresses many issues, from over tourism to the caste system and so much more. The restored-for-tourists kettuvallam houseboats have become a cliche (a very nice one, I can tell you from personal experience) and are one of the best ways to see Kerala and see all these wonderful small things!

There are plenty more great choices to fuel your armchair travel. Now is the time to pick up this beautifully produced little tome of literary delights. The narrative is interwoven with the most beautiful, naive-style block paintings that cannot fail to add colour to your life. They depict the places described in the featured novels.

[Rebecca Reviews · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sarah Baxter’s Literary Places is an interesting and easy read that takes you to famous literary locations and the novels that immortalized them. Each concise entry is accompanied by Amy Grimes’ charming full-colour illustrations. However, I wish that there was much more diversity because Baxter mostly focused on Europe and North America. Moreover, if you’re hoping for more details and want a more traditional travel guide, this isn’t the book for you.

The book takes you through twenty-five places, including The God of Small Things’ Kerala to the Yorkshire Moors of Wuthering Heights and The Catcher in the Rye’s New York. Each brief section features easy-to-read but engaging writing. Baxter includes interesting and relevant history on each place as well as a simple summary of each novel. I’m excited to check out Naguib Mahfouz’ Palace Walk and Thomas Mann’s The Magic Mountain because the descriptions sparked my interest.

But, the book is sorely lacking in diversity. I was hoping to discover new literary locations in Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean. I also wanted more non-white authors. Baxter mostly focused on white authors in North America and Europe. The book would be more interesting if more novels from diverse authors and different continents were included.

Each location is accompanied by Grimes’ full-colour illustrations. These simple but effective pictures are lovely and softly coloured. I particularly like the depictions in the Monterey and Kerala sections. However, some pictures needed to be more relevant to each section because they felt too generic.

The book is a succinct introduction to these literary places. It made me want to research the books, authors, and fascinating locations. It also definitely inspired me to consider traveling to these wonderful locations. However, I’m hesitant to call this book a travel guide simply because it does not provide enough details.

Literary Places is a great read which introduces you to famous literary locations. The full-colour illustrations are lovely. However, I wish some pictures were more specific to each location and that the book was much more diverse and included more authors and locations from around the world. But, I enjoyed this book. I hope Baxter and Grimes release another more detailed collection soon. If you love reading about novels, fascinating locations, or are just looking for a light and pretty read, check this book out!

Thank you to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group - White Lion Publishing for this book in exchange for an honest review.

📖 📖 📖 books out of 5!

[Claudia · Rating 3 out of 5]

The second in the series and this time the reader is taken to a variety of locations that are as much a part of some classic literary works as the characters themselves. From the Yorkshire Moors in Wuthering Heights to Joyce's Dublin in Ulysses. Soweto (which I didn't know was originally called South West Township) in the Burger's Daughter to Cairo for Palace Walk. A total of twenty-five books and their 'places' are discussed and revealed.

Not only is the lovely illustrations by Susan Grimes once again included but Baxter gives a summary of the book itself as well as a walking tour of the locations within the book - some that are real or based in reality, some are renamed and some are long gone.

Interesting enough, Don Quixote 30-40 giants of Cervantes time has already been reduced to 13 lonely windmills. . . .

2022-011

[Zulfiya · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my favorite type of travelogues - it took me to places I read about. They are both real and fictional, and even after so many years, they are still tantalizing and I would like to revisit them again in books and maybe visit some places in person.

Of course, it is a very travelogue-ey book with the vocabulary more exquisite than food in posh restaurants with the words of "doldrum", "somnolence" and other similar ones that are peppered all over the book. Well, it is intended for literature lovers, so it is a worthy challenge!

The quality that does not diminish the book, but it nagged me all the time I read the book is that the chapters or entries or pieces end without telling the plot, and I really wanted to get more about the book than the place ... Silly me. That feeling of incompleteness was only present when I read about the places/books that I had previously read, and it disappeared when I read about the unknown literary terrains.

The whole reading journey was a pleasant incentive to read even more.

[Kristin Kraves Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

The idea behind this book is fantastic, and I thought it was executed pretty well. The illustrations were stunning, and I loved learning more about the history behind some classics works and the cities they are set in. It is evident that the author has a passion for both travel and for books. I plan on buying myself a finished copy because it is such a beautiful book and will make for a great conversation starter. I was so happy and surprised to see that my favourite book, Cannery Row, made an appearance. Anyone who loves and appreciates the settings of the books that they read will appreciate this one. It would also make for a great gift!

Full review on my blog to come!

[Steff Fox · Rating 3 out of 5]

| Reader Fox Blog |


If you're looking for a book that will describe, in flowery detail, what various areas which books of the past have been set in are like, then this is likely a very good book for you. If you're looking, instead, for a book that will guide you through the masterfully captured worlds of novels by authors from Victor Hugo to Emily Brontë, the sort of book that will allow readers to immerse themselves within the world of the books they know and love as they visit the very settings where the events of the novel took place, this isn't that sort of book. I think I had a lot of expectations for Literary Places by Sarah Baxter and a bunch of them just never really appeared within her book. While it is well researched and definitely a pleasant read, it doesn't leave me feeling as though I could imagine myself in those places nor would it help me navigate them as though I were walking the same streets that the characters walked through their stories.

Readers will find a lot of information about the various places mentioned throughout this book and you can definitely get a sense of what the areas are like, but Literary Places does not work as a travel guide to help you visit those places. I'm not sure if that was the author's intention or if she just wanted to educate the public about these places, but I truly do believe I would have gotten a lot more out of it had the book been more about helping readers experience the locations of these novels. I'd like to be able to imagine myself there.

A worthwhile read that develops one's understanding of various places throughout the world where many novels were set, I definitely appreciate having read the book, but I probably wouldn't pick it up much again.

I was provided a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

| Instagram | Twitter | Reader Fox Blog | Bloglovin’ | Facebook |

[Simona · Rating 2 out of 5]

Leggere equivale un po' a viaggiare, stando fermi e con i libri è possibile fare dei bellissimi viaggi senza muoversi di casa. È l'intento di "Luoghi letterari" di Sarah Baxter, una guida, non solo letteraria, ma anche di viaggio. Una sorta di vademecum che, attraverso dei libri quali I Miserabili di Hugo, Ulisse di Joyce, La casa degli spiriti della Allende o La figlia di Burger della Gordimer, esplora il viaggio, i luoghi che sono parte integranti di questi romanzi e che sono protagonisti delle storie.
Un vademecum letterario che parte dalla Parigi rivoluzionaria arrivando al territorio della Mancia del Don Chisciotte passando per Soweto e il Mississippi. Un viaggio, un po' troppo didascalico e poco immaginifico, completo di illustrazioni molto colorate realizzate da Amy Grimes che mostrano ogni luogo, per viaggiare con la fantasia in attesa di poterlo fare davvero e toccare con mano i luoghi degli scrittori che amiamo.

[Tahlia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is such a lovely, well illustrated little book that would make a great gift for any literary or travel lover in your life. Detailing classics such as Wuthering Heights and Oliver Twist, as well as modern classics like The Kite Runner. I found some fabulous new places to add to my travel bucket list, as well as some new-found books to add to my TBR.

Would have loved if there was just a bit more detail about each book/place to visit and maybe some formatted highlights to make it easier to pick out information, but enjoyed it nonetheless.

[Teddy · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘Literary Places’ is a richly illustrated guide for literary travel. That is, travel for book lovers. It only provides short descriptions/short stories about the places you can visit. So I think it is a good introduction to literary travel but I would certainly want to read a more in depth travel book or articles to plan an actual trip.

I think ‘Literary Places’ would make a great gift for literature lovers, as well as art lovers and would also make a handsome coffee table book.

[Ann T · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you Quatro - White Lion Publishing and Netgalley for this ARC.

The perfect combination for booklovers whetting their wanderlust A beautifully illustrated book that takes the reader around the globe and explores lots of different sites through the eyes of well known authors.

I loved the colour illustrations and reading about places I hadn’t heard of or learning something new about those I did.
A lovely gift as either a coffee table book or a companion to get cosy with as you curl up and enjoy travelling on a new adventure.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Literary Places: Inspired Traveller’s Guide by Sarah Baxter, illustrated by Amy Grimes


White Lion Publishing
Nonfiction, travel
March 5, 2019
Rating: 5/5

I received this digital ARC from NetGalley and White Lion Publishing in exchange for an unbiased review.

A great story allows the reader to travel in time to places that only exist in our imagination. This book focuses on 25 great literary places around the world. Each chapter uniquely illustrated provides a reflection hoping to transport you to those places which we can only visit via the pages of these literary treasures. The author explores the location in regards to history and the author’s vision at that time.

Imagine being in Paris 1800’s during the Enlightenment amidst the squalor and revolution which existed in Les Misérables by Victor Hugo. An interesting history of Paris during this era provides a historical perspective of the travails of Jean Valjean. From there you can time travel to Dublin where James Joyce describes the humdrum events in a typical Irish day in Ulysses. Imagine being Léopold Bloom exploring the streets of Dublin on 16 June 1904.

Similarly, A Room with a View by E.M. Forster allows us to see Florence during the resplendent Italian Renaissance. Fast forward to Naples 1950’s as two young girls come of age in My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante. You can also imagine Berlin Alexanderplatz in the late 1920’s during a period of hardship and political unrest. Perhaps a trip to a timeless place of simplicity and awe! We might find ourselves in Nordland as described by Knut Hamsun in Growth of the Soil.

Of course, a literary jaunt would not be complete without a stop in St. Petersburg, an imperial Russian city described in Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. These are only a sampling of the journey you will take in this book. A lovely guide for those who enjoy the journey as well as the destination.

https://www.bookbub.com/books/literar...

[Seema Rao · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well-researched ~ Alluring ~ Intriguing

tl;dr: Pictures of the places you loved from books.

I had no idea that I needed this book in my life. The author has short text discussing places and one iconic book in that location, like Cannery Row and Monterey. Baxter pairs these with richly colored illustrations of these places. Monterey, for example, is chocked full of commercialism these days, with Steinbeck's California long gone. I had no idea how much I wanted to see his Moneterey. Looking at the images is like being transported to the places the books had formed in your mind. Lovely, lovely book. Great read/ experience for voracious readers.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Seema Rao Write : Instagram| Blog| Twitter|

[Linda Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

Being winter weary, this book appealed to me. The promise of pictures of favorite literary locales with background info was intriguing.
Perhaps my expectations were too high because this book is simply okay. The pictures weren't what I had expected. The stories about the locations were somewhat interesting.
It is an interesting idea for a book though.
I received an Advance Review Copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

[Mandy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a pleasant enough little book and would make an ideal present for a bibliophile friend, but it felt very lacking in substance to me. 25 literary places associated with 25 writers – an interesting premise, but each is only sketched out in a couple of pages, and although the illustrations are charming, I would have much preferred actual photographs and maps. There are a plethora of books about writers and places and I don’t feel this one adds anything to the genre.

[Kris (My Novelesque Life) · Rating 4 out of 5]

RATING: 4 STARS
2019; Quarto Publishing Group/White Lion Publishing

Gorgeous illustrations! I actually took this book out at the library to really see the images and it's a fun book for any book addict.

***I received a complimentary copy of this ebook from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.***

[Maddie O. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received an arc of this book via NetGalley.

There wasn’t anything truly bad about this book, but I was bored. The book didn’t really tell me anything interesting about the places it detailed. The illustrations were beautiful, though!

[Laurel · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this book did help alleviate my wanderlust temporarily, I'd have enjoyed a linger book with a much wider range of countries to have been included. Also, while the illustrations are lovely, they're not strictly evocative of either the places or the books being depicted.