Package Deals – Literary travel tips
There are books where you just have to look at the cover and you want to step inside it, be part of the story and meet the characters for real. See their world through their eyes and become a part of it all. Recently three books have stuck in my mind and my mind’s eye as worlds that I like to think about and remember with a fondness:
A travelling bus – USA
Oh the joys of a gap year travelling across a continent in a bus. What ever the reason for the journey it’s a fun and exciting way to travel and as soon as I saw this book cover with the bus, the map and the possibilities, I wanted to be a part of it.
There’s no other feeling like it – crossing lands and continents in a rusty old bus, a camper van if you’re lucky. The sense of utter freedom and escape, not to mention the excitement of the stops along the way. Stops on this trip include Hershey of Chocolate fame and Coffeeville? Is there such a place? Yes there is (two in fact) and so with the promise of a journey, chocolate and coffee, I was hooked….
A house on the cliff edge – Corsica
This is not the UK cover (that is just as enticing with a clear blue sea and a woman in a bathing suit just about to dive into the cool waters – well it made me want to swim!) but it’s this cover that got me. The lights on that house perched precariously on the edge of a cliff makes me wonder who lives there and why? What is this place and why is it on the cover? There is something very exciting indeed about a building in the dark with lights on and I just wanted to find out more. I was not disappointed when I finally entered the house!
A winter country retreat – Ireland
After the heat of America and the bus journey and the glaring sun of Corsica, a little cold wintery mystery is right up my street. The old house, the glittering cover and those people walking up to that grey house with the read door. I want to go there too and find out why Huntersbrook House is so important to the Craig family of the story. Hedgerows laced with frost? Countryside venue and Christmas just around the corner? The heart of winter sounds warm and cosy – the cover drew me in.
Which literary worlds and covers are enticing to you and why?
