Fiction with a sense of place – Page 2

Around the World in 5 Books

Let us take you on a quick trip around the world via these five selected books of fiction with a sense of place that are currently on our shelves here at Stanfords:

Blessings

by Chukwuebuka Ibeh

£14.99

Set in: Nigeria

When Obiefuna’s father witnesses an intimate moment between his teenage son and the family’s apprentice, newly arrived from the nearby village, he banishes Obiefuna to a Christian boarding school marked by strict hierarchy and routine, devastating violence. Utterly alienated from the people he loves, Obiefuna begins a journey of self-discovery and blossoming desire, while his mother Uzoamaka grapples to hold onto her favourite son, her truest friend.

Interweaving the perspectives of Obiefuna and his mother Uzoamaka, as they reach towards a future that will hold them both, BLESSINGS is an elegant and exquisitely moving story of love and loneliness. Asking how we can live freely when politics reaches into our hearts and lives, as well as deep into our consciousness, it is a stunning, searing debut.

Author Event: French Windows by Antoine Laurain

On Tuesday evening we hosted an evening of discussion, storytelling and murder mystery with award winning author Antoine Laurain as he spoke to Jake Kerridge about his superb new novel French Windows, a surprising and suspenseful murder mystery, reminiscent of Hitchcock with a Parisian heart.

Book Launch: The Innocents by Bridget Walsh

Last week we hosted the launch of The Innocents by Bridget Walsh

The Covenant of Water, Winner of the Viking Fiction with a Sense of Place Award

Last week at the Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese won the Viking Fiction with a Sense of Place Award.

Such is the nature of our business, it’s no surprise that often the winning authors are travelling or not based in London so are unable to attend the event. Luckily Abraham’s globe trophy was accepted on behalf of him by his publisher, but he did send these words;

Around the World in 6 Works of New Fiction

Let us take you on a reading journey to Panama, Vietnam, the Caribbean, Myanmar (Burma), Georgia and Italy via the pages of some new fiction on our shelves.

Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards 2024 Winners Announced

Many of the world’s greatest travel writers gathered at Stanfords last night to celebrate the ninth Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards (ESTWAs) presented by Viking, the world’s leading exploration company.

This year 18 books made the shortlists, divided into five awards categories with winners being both debut authors and multi-award-winning writers.

Each award winner was presented with a hand-made globe by Lander & May on the Isle of Wight featuring a design produced exclusively for the awards.

And the winners are…

Explore the shortlisted titles in the Viking Award for Fiction with a Sense of Place category

Here at Stanfords we get a lot of customers asking for recommendations for fiction set in the place they are planning to go so that they can enjoy some in situ reading. With the Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards later on this month, we thought we would take a closer look at the shortlisted titles in the Viking Award for Fiction with a Sense of Place category. Perhaps something on the list will inspire your next trip.

Book Launch: ‘The Tower’ by Flora Carr

Last night we hosted the launch of debut author Flora Carr’s historical novel The Tower.

Three women cross a loch. It is 1567, one of them is pregnant, two of them fretful. The boat takes them to Lochleven castle in the middle of the water. Awaiting them are courtiers braying for blood, hellbent on keeping one of them under lock and key: Mary Queen of Scots.

In the tower, Mary’s maids Frenchwoman, Cuckoo and watchful Scot, Jane are her only allies, and the chamber their entire world. A new reality sets in where they are at the mercy of not only their keepers, but of raging Scotland itself.

In the outside world, Mary’s kin, Queen Elizabeth claims she can do little but write. Downstairs, the shrewd jailor-courtier Margaret Erskine places her daughter-in-law Agnes in the chamber as her pair of eyes. Hope seems futile until the bewitching Lady Seton arrives. Seton’s power shifts everything in the tower and soon a plan is hatched.

But which of them will risk it all to save their mistress? Which woman loves her queen best? The Tower is a triumphant story of desire, grit, God-given power and wiles from a striking new voice in historical fiction.

The Tower is available now for £16.99

Victoria Hislop in Conversation: Stanfords Travel Writers Festival

From Destinations: The Holiday & Travel Show in London’s Olympia, The Stanfords Travel Writers Festival welcomes the international bestselling author Victoria Hislop. Victoria divides her time between England and Greece and in 2020, was granted honorary citizenship by the President. She talks to Ann Morgan about why the people and the place have captured her heart so completely, and what makes Greece and its islands so very special.