You Are There: Books with a Strong Sense of Place recommended by the Corte Madera Library
Alexandria Quartet by Lawrence Durrell
Durrell's masterpiece is distinguished not only by its power of language, its evocation of place, and its creation of character, but also for its bold and original design.
Big Rock Candy Mountain by Wallace Stegner
For over thirty years, the Mason family chases dreams in the formidable, arid lands of Saskatchewan and the American west.
Bombay Ice by Leslie Forbes
Concerned that her sister may be in danger, Roz Bengal returns to modern Bombay where she uses her knowledge of chemistry, Shakespeare and meteorology to solve a mystery in the film community.
Cereus Blooms at Night by Shani Mootoo
The tale of Mala Ramchandin's mysterious life is told in prose so sensual that the reader can smell the cereus, lime, and cardamom of a Caribbean island.
Close Range: Wyoming Stories by Annie Proulx
The brutal yet magnificent land of Wyoming looms large in these stories of loving, losing, and bearing the consequences.
Consider This, Señora by Harriet Doerr
The colorful and extreme landscape of rural Mexico is the backdrop for this story of four Americans seeking a new direction.
Corelli's Mandolin by Louis De Bernieres
The Greek island of Cephallonia is the background for this passionate novel of love and loyalty, set during the Italian occupation during World War II.
The Cure for Death by Lightning by Gail Anderson-Dargatz
This coming of age story set in rural British Columbia combines Native American mysticism, detailed descriptions of farm life, and a gripping sense of place.
Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather
Set over a 40 year period beginning in 1851, Cather's masterpiece beautifully describes the vast New Mexico territory, while telling the story of Father Jean Marie Latour's life and career.
Dreams of My Russian Summers by Andrei Makine
In this lyrical and richly textured novel, a young boy in the Soviet Union is entranced by his French grandmother's stories of Paris, World War II, and Russia.
Fall on Your Knees by Ann-Marie MacDonald
This family saga of repression, lust, and tragedy captures the atmospheres of Cape Breton Island, WW I trenches, and the New York City jazz scene.
Familiar Heat by Mary Hood
Fishermen, shrimpers, priests, shopkeepers, and Cuban exiles still reliving the Bay of Pigs fiasco bring to life a small town on the Florida coast.
The Famished Road by Ben Okri
Azaro, a spirit child, narrates this story of a teeming, impoverished African village on the eve of political independence in this 1991 Booker Prize winning novel.
The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende
Combining the personal and the political, four generations of women provide a unifying thread and feminine consciousness for a fictional history of Chilean society.
Kolymsky Heights by Lionel Davidson
With the subtlety of Le Carre and the intelligence of Graham Greene, this thriller brings to life remote, frozen Siberia.
Le Divorce by Diane Johnson
1990s Paris is the setting for this engrossing satire of the collision of French and American cultures.
Martha Quest by Doris Lessing
Life on the farm and in the city of pre-World War II Southern Africa is vividly evoked in this first of Lessing's Children of Violence coming of age saga.
Murder in Belleville by Cara Black
The immigrant Paris neighborhood of Belleville provides the gritty, vibrant background for this complex tale of race, politics, and illegal immigration.
My Dream of You by Nuala O'Faolain
This novel within a novel brings to life both contemporary Ireland and the country at the time of the famine as protagonist Kathleen de Burca returns to her native Ireland.
Palace Walk by Najib Mahfuz
In this first book of The Cairo Trilogy, Nobel laureate Mahfuz draws us into the lives of the family of Al-Sayyid Ahmad as WW I draws to a close.
Plainsong by Kent Haruf
The citizens of Holt, Colorado, a small town set on the edge of the plains, are honestly and compassionately portrayed in this touching novel.
A River Sutra by Gita Mehta
A rest house situated on the banks of the holy river Narmada provides a vantage point for a retired Indian bureaucrat to learn the stories of people seeking renewal.
A Room with a View by E M Forster
When an upper-middle-class Englishwoman exchanges her rooms with a lower-middle-class man at a Florence hotel, her views and prejudices undergo a profound change.
The Sheltering Sky by Paul Bowles
Wandering through the inhospitable desert of North Africa, an American couple becomes alienated and disaffected.
Smilla's Sense of Snow by Peter Hoeg
Living in Copenhagen, but a native of Greenland, Smilla Jaspersen is an expert on snow. As she struggles to solve a perplexing death, her knowledge of Greenland and its history is vital.
This House of Sky by Ivan Doig
The rugged Montana wilderness is integral to this memoir of a childhood populated with Doig's loving family, sheepherders, and the denizens of small-town saloons and valley ranchers.
Voyage of the Narwhal by Andrea Barrett
An 1855 expedition to the Arctic in search of Sir John Franklin is filled with mythic danger and maniacal quests. The Arctic, the sea, and the minds of men are explored.
