A Sense Of Place
In giving his list of favorite books for the The Book list column in The Week, author Mark Spragg said this about the book Joe by Larry Brown:
This book is a masterpiece of place. Rarely have I read a novel that so transformed my sense of region. Rarely have I read a novel in which the complexity and honesty of the characters so transformed my sense of self.
I re-read the quote several times because it’s such a strong statement about something most readers and some writers might not think about in detail. I assume place doesn’t just mean Pittsburgh or Starbucks - or, in the case of this book, Mississippi - but is a broader concept of setting, time, culture, location character, local flavor and mood. As a reader do I sit there and think, "wow, this book really captured the area for me." Not really, but I think the idea is supposed to be more subtle than that.
Take an easy commerical example and one most of us have read or at least seen on TV - Band Of Brothers, the story of Easy Company and its drive from landing at D-Day to capturing Hitler’s vacation home. The author, Stephen Ambrose, described the bond between the men in detail such that when I then watched the mini-series based on the book it matched the scene I had created in my mind.
In a general sense, I think that’s what Spragg means by "sense of place." If so, does it play as big a role in the romance genre? Well, it should. Some settings have a richness and history that may make this easier because they almost work as another character, such as the Louisiana Bayou. But, I’ve read several books, some romances and some not, that felt disconnected from their surroundings. Not just that I didn’t understand what the living room looked like, it was more about a lack of grounding of the scene and characters. About the failure to give depth and perspective.
Ah, yes, another skill to try to master.
