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Big Stone Gap
Adriana Trigiani
Big Stone Gap, Virginia
A love poem to the Appalachian community and its delightful quirks. It doesn’t get more picturesque Americana than Big Stone Gap, Virginia. Trigiani does a masterful job capturing the small town secrets and big hearts. Visit and you’ll be convinced everyone is Ava Maria welcoming you with open arms. Bonus feature: Big Stone Gap, the movie starring Ashley Judd, Patrick Wilson, and Whoopi Goldberg, opens October 9, 2015. Read, visit, see the film: the perfect trifecta.
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Hausfrau
Jill Alexander Essbaum
Zürich, Switzerland
Imagine a desperate, modern American housewife in the suburbs of old-world Zürich. That’s this powerful, debut novel. We’re privy to the complicated, inner life of Anna Benz’s Swiss world. Upon turning the last page, you’ll want to visit Zürich’s nearly 180-year-old Sprüngli café and have a wicked affair—with chocolate!
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I Shall Be Near To You
Erin Lindsay McCabe
Antietam Battlefield, Sharpsburg, Maryland
Based on true documentation that women dressed as men and joined the ranks during the Civil War. The novel follows one such brave soldier in masquerade, Rosetta Wakefield, as she ventures into the heart of bloody combat to be near her husband. This book will have you marching across Antietam Battlefield, aching with the story you carry and forever remembering the bravery of America’s forebears.
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The Invention of Wings
Sue Monk Kidd
Charleston, South Carolina
Inspired by real-life abolitionist and suffragette Sarah Grimke in nineteenth-century Charleston, the book is a portrait of America’s historic racial conflict and a tribute to the good southerners who put their lives on the line for the sake of friendship and equality. You’ll be craving shrimp and grits, humming Gullah songs, and taking a tour of the Grimke house on Broad Street.
What’s more enjoyable than reading a book so steeped in a setting that you feel like you’ve been there? Actually standing in the streets! One of the biggest compliments an author can receive is when her book motivates a reader to venture beyond the fictional pages and seek out further information on the story’s subject matter. It’s been an honor to hear from so many readers who were inspired to visit Harper’s Ferry after reading The Mapmaker’s Children. Here’s seven books that will make you want to buy a ticket immediately.
What books have inspired you to want to travel? Have you ever ventured to a setting depicted in a favorite book? Tell us in the comments!
List curated by Sarah McCoy, New York Times bestselling author of The Mapmaker’s Children. (Follow her on Twitter @SarahMMcCoy and Facebook.)
Featured Image by Jacob Lund/Shutterstock.com
