I think there are probably a lot of ways to approach the topic “armchair traveller”, but mine is going to be ten books that will transport you to a different part of the world and give you a feel of what being there might be like – either because the book is set there or because characters travel there. Some of these will be geographical travel, but some will also take you back in time – the kind of travel that all the money in the world can’t buy you except in books.
Was this the topic for last week’s Top Ten Tuesday? Yes.
Was I planning on doing it last week? Absolutely – I was really excited for the topic.
Did I run out of time? Yes.
Am I writing it last-minute this week, too? Also yes. I am writing it at 3pm on Tuesday afternoon. (Update: I had class, so I am now resuming at 6pm…) (Update #2: I had to go to an evening class, so I am now writing this on Wednesday afternoon…)
Am I going to do my best not to leave it another week? Yes!
Although I highlight quotes in my books and tab them as well, I don’t actually have a place where I collect all of the quotes together and most of my books are in storage, so I don’t have the books on hand to go through either, so this week’s topic would be a little bit tricky for me to pull off (although hopefully in the future I can bring it back during a freebie week), so I decided it was a good chance to make up for not getting around to the topic last week!
I’ve picked five tried-and-tested books that I’ve read, loved and felt transported to another part of the world through. I’ve also picked five journeys still waiting for me on my TBR shelves.
Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme originally created by The Broke and the Bookish and currently hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. Covers link to The Storygraph; titles link to Bookshop.org UK (or Blackwell’s if not available). Bookshop.org UK links are affiliate links and I receive a small commission (alongside independent bookshops)!
Malaysia: The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng
A newly-retired judge returns to the Malaysian Highlands where she had spent some time in her young adulthood following the end of World War II. Faced with impending memory loss, she begins to recall and record her time as an apprentice in the Garden of Evening Mists. (2011 | Literary/Historical Fiction | The Storygraph)
Visit Malaysia in both the modern day and post-World War II . Drink in the beauty of the Cameron Highlands with their tea fields and gardens. (And cry a little.)
Scotland: The Ninth Child by Sally Magnusson
1850s Scotland: Isabel’s doctor husband had been assigned to the Loch Katrine waterworks. It’s no place for a lady, but maybe this wild place can bring her some consolation after a series of miscarriages that have denied her motherhood. But as life quickens within her again, a darker presence is also emerging. Maybe the navvies were right to worry about digging too deep and disturbing the land of faery. (2020 | Historical Fiction/Magical Realism | The Storygraph)
Travel back in time to 1850s Scotland in the southern part of the Highlands. This story is set primarily on the banks of Loch Katrine, a large lake surrounded by exposed mountains. With the rugged landscape comes a rich and dark folklore – although I didn’t see a Fae whilst on the lake (I’ve actually been here – it’s near where my grandparents live!)
Byzantine Empire: Far Away Bird by Douglas A Burton
Inspired by the true life of Byzantine Empress Theodora. Follow the making of the Empress who would go on to enact some of the first ever Western laws protecting women and their freedom, from the brothels to the theatres to the throne. (2020 | Historical Fiction | The Storygraph)
This is one you can’t really go and see – although my parents have been to Istanbul and my mum raves about it, so it’s definitely one to add to the bucket list. This story is incredibly engaging, although do be aware of the trigger warnings. I posted a review of this since I received it as an ARC on an old blog of mine, but you can still find the review on my Storygraph! This one is predominantly set in Constantinople (modern day Istanbul) but it does move across the Byzantine Empire to places like Egypt etc. as well!
Italy: The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim
Four unhappy women escape their stifling lives in England to escape to a small castle in Italy for a month. The lulling warmth of the sun and the beauty of the gardens slowly peels back the women’s outer shells, leading them through disquiet and discomfort to harmony. (1922 | Literary Fiction | The Storygraph)
All of von Arnim’s books that I’ve read so far (all two of them, even) have had a beautifully transporting quality, but especially this journey to the Italian Riviera makes for the perfect mental getaway to a land of fragrant flowers by the sea.
Korea: Travelogue of Kim Keum-won (in Classical Writings of Korean Women)
Aged 14, Kim Keum-won wants to explore the world before she grows up enough to become a man’s wife, or concubine, or gisaeng. Being ill often since she was little, her father decided to give her a man’s education in the classics rather than a woman’s education of needlework and household duties, and she longed to visit the landscapes she had read about. Convincing her parents to let her go, she dresses as a boy and sets out on a trip to the various beauties of natural Korea. (1830-1850 | Memoir/Travel Writing | The Storygraph)
This is one that I came across as part of my dissertation but absolutely loved and would genuinely recommend to anyone who likes travel or nature writing. It’s part of a bigger collection (although still not long) that also includes some poetry, letters etc., including remarks made my people who knew Keum-won about her travelogue and her life! You can skip all that and just read the travelogue if you like, but it’s definitely worth it. This book is available for free on the internet only, courtesy of the Literature Translation Institute of Korea and you can access it here.
Also, bonus – since this was written before the Korean War, she’s actually travelling through both North and South Korea!
Now that we’ve had a look at some of the journeys I can recommend, let’s have a look at some of the trips I’m looking forward to going on soon!
There are so many books that I want to read from around the world, but these are a couple that I think will particularly do a good job of showing the nature/landscape/feel of the book – a bit like going there on holiday! Most of these books will actually cover quite a wide area. Perhaps the most limited in scope is the Six Records of a Floating Life by Shen Fu (1763-1810), the memoir and travelogue of a Chinese writer from the Qing dynasty. In The Map of Salt and Stars by Jennifer Zeynab Joukhadar we follow the journey of two girls away from Syria and across the Levant and North Africa – one a refugee in 2011 and one an apprentice mapmaker in the 12th century.
More firmly in the present day, Robert Macfarlane talks about his walks across the UK, as well as in Spain, Palestine and Tibet in his book The Old Ways. In Moonlight Express, Monisha Rajesh takes night train after night train, travelling across Europe and Turkey, India, the Andes and the US East Coast. Finally, Henrietta Lovell’s love for tea takes her across the world in Infused– to far more places than I knew grew tea. From Scotland to China, South Africa to Nepal, Italy to India, Norway to Sri Lanka, and so many more, this book looks like it will be right up my street – after all, it combines my three loves of tea, books and travel!
And that’s all! Let me know which books have transported you the best to another location so I can add some more books to my TBR!
Also feel free to link to both this week and last week’s Top Ten Tuesday – I am going to ambitiously try and look at both since I didn’t get a chance to read last week’s posts yet!
Keira x
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