Where do you like to go in a story?
Travel has been as much a part of my life as reading. When I wasn’t travelling, I was drawn to stories that took me to places and immersed me through wonderful narratives. They were stories set in richly descriptive locations that draw in the reader not just through characters, but also through place.
After many trips to Europe, one summer my husband and I swapped homes with friends who lived in Menton, on the French Riviera. Our travel style changed forever as we discovered the satisfaction of living like a local. Visiting the daily market, meeting neighbours, learning the culture and traditions of the area, settling into the comfortable pace of everyday life experienced not as tourists, but as part-time locals, and only leaving for a day trip once in a while became our routine. Seventeen home exchanges followed, most in the south of France.
Do you love to be swept into those same rhythms in a novel, and do you feel a frisson of excitement when you discover there is a series in which to settle? I hear you.
When I became an author at the age of 65, I realized I had been telling stories all my life through photography. Now I wanted to share the joy of the south of France in my stories. My love affair with that part of the world began when I was 21 and has never waned. My Love in Provence trilogy and Villa des Violettes 4-book series are the direct results of that passion.
Taking readers on a trip without leaving home is my jam. I love receiving emails saying thanks for just that. It’s my greatest reward.
Upon reflection, I realize I have been loving living like a local in the majority of my reading choices through the years. Have you experienced the same — those novels that drop you into a village café, a cobblestone alley in a hamlet in the countryside of Provence, a foggy coastal town in England or a lively market in Italy, where you begin to know the rhythms, voices and small rituals of daily life almost as if you’d lived them yourself?
Here are a few diverse author choices, old and new, that offer you the opportunity to travel by book, including a wonderful Tall Poppy Writers author who understands more about southern living than anyone I know.
Tara Road by Maeve Binchy
While not a series in the traditional sense, many of her books feature interconnected characters or revisit settings from previous novels, creating a sense of continuity for readers. They’re warm, character-driven stories set mostly in Ireland, often in small towns or Dublin. They explore post-World War II, the lives, relationships and emotional struggles of everyday people — especially women. These really were the first books where I fell in love with locations that drew me in and gave me a sense of actually living there.
Death at La Fenice (Commissario Brunetti Book 1) by Donna Leon
The series blends classic detective work with commentary on Italian society, environmental concerns and the justice system, all set against the atmospheric beauty of Venice. Commissario Guido Brunetti always goes home for lunch, and we often feel we are sharing it with him. Venice is magical, and daily life is fascinating as everything must arrive by boat and then be delivered through narrow, winding streets and across bridges.
In the Woods (Dublin Murder Squad, Book 1) by Tana French
This detective series is set across various parts of Dublin and nearby towns, capturing both urban and rural Irish life with vivid, atmospheric detail. The settings, some quite isolated and wild, are often more like characters, which I love.
My Good Life in France: In Pursuit of the Rural Dream (The Good Life France Book 1) by Janine Marsh
Set in the rural Seven Valleys area of Pas de Calais, or as Marsh says, “in the middle of nowhere rural France”, these memoirs take readers into the daily life of an ex-pat British woman and her husband and 72 animals in hilarious and realistic detail. It’s delightful total immersion.
Slightly South of Simple: A Novel (The Peachtree Bluff Series Book 1) by Kristy Woodson Harvey
Predominantly set in the Southern United States, with a strong emphasis on coastal North Carolina, Harvey’s locations often reflect the charm and complexities of small-town life, weaving rich atmospheres that are integral to her storytelling. I can hear the soft southern accent on every page.
Standalones and series by Peter Mayle
Mainly set in picturesque centuries-old villages and the pastoral countryside of Provence, the stories are set in unforgettable locations and feature elements of travel, food, history and sometimes light mystery. We experience daily life vicariously with all of the traditions, culture and beauty that make us want to live there.
Miss Marple series by Agatha Christie
Set in quaint fictional villages from 1930 to 1950, reflecting English rural life. Christie’s hometown of Torquay, and also Bath, often provide the more urban settings when needed. Rich in detail, readers experience the gossip, manners and concealed drama of villages that are quiet, seemingly idyllic places but may hide dark secrets. Murders often occur in large isolated estates.
All Creatures Great and Small series by James Herriot
Set in the Yorkshire Dales, a rural region in northern England known for its rolling hills, stone villages and farming communities, this series follows the semi-autobiographical life of a young veterinarian as he tends to the animals in the countryside between the 1930s and 1950s.
So there you go. No passport, no packing needed. Simply get settled in your favorite reading chair and fly away. Bon voyage!
I’m excited about my new stand-alone novel publishing in November and wish I could reveal the title or cover, but I’m not quite there. I will say it begins in a small ski town in Canada, takes you dog-sitting in Paris and ends at an art gallery in Nice. Stay tuned!
