Novel set in fictional small-town AMERICA
Location, Location, Location by Rosanna Ley
19th August 2020
Exploring Belle-île-en-Mer for ‘Her Mother’s Secret’
Location, Location, Location… That says it all. It’s a vital element in my writing. Not just to create a sense of place, atmosphere and maybe symbolism, although these help bring layers of interest to a story. For me, it’s more about exploration.
Other landscapes, other people, other cultures… They draw me as a writer, to explore not what I know but what I want to discover. For me, writing a novel is about exploration and discovery, and what continues to intrigue me is that I never know what I will find.
Sometimes the place comes first. In ‘The Lemon Tree Hotel’ for example, I wanted to write about family dynamics and I placed my hotel in the stunning landscape of Liguria, the Italian Riviera, because it’s one of my favourite locations…
This quirky beach house in El Cotillo, Fuerteventura was used in ‘Bay of Secrets’
But the place always adds something. In this case, the history of Vernazza presented me with part of the plot, not just what happened there during the second world war, but what happened to the village later (no spoilers!) which became integral to the story.
Sometimes, I have a theme and I look for a place to fulfil and echo that theme – islands and escape took me to Belle-Ile-en-Mer in ‘Her Mother’s Secret’ while saffron, Vietnam and the 1960s hippie trail took me to Morocco for ‘The Saffron Trail’. My husband’s late father’s story of serving as a Chindit in Burma lured me there for ‘Return to Mandalay’ and the true life atrocities of the ‘stolen children’ of Spain whisked me off to Barcelona. Exploring themes of power and control (and dancing the rumba!) led me to Cuba in ‘Last Dance in Havana’ and in the book I am writing now (‘The Orange Grove’) I began with home-made Seville marmalade. Say no more…
Incense at the Shwedagon in Burma – inspiration for ‘Return to Mandalay’
My current novel ‘From Venice with Love’ isn’t only set in Venice. Joanna finds some old family letters in the attic and sets off to follow the same pathway as the woman who wrote them – Emmy, a mysterious watercolourist. The letters take her to Prague, Lisbon and Venice, so I have really gone to town location-wise…
Immersed in the novels is (usually) West Dorset, the landscape of home. It may not be as exotic, but this Jurassic coastline is equally mesmerising to me.
Researching the location involves finding out about the history, culture and people who have lived there. I like to visit, to wander and explore and to plot out walks and places unique to my characters and their story. It’s great to write certain scenes ‘in situ’ and if I can’t do that, I’ll make notes and take photos. I’ll read about the local legends, talk to the local people and absorb the flavours of the place. I’ll also just sit and think.
Writing about other cultures and landscapes is endlessly fascinating – and there are so many still to explore
Rosanna Ley
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