Reading a good book can be a way to unwind after a stressful week at work, a way to escape reality for a little while, and a way to learn more about the world around us. However, books can also serve as some indirect inspiration for travel too – especially when a writer has transported you to a particular place or environment.
I had this very experience recently whilst reading Carley Fortune’s latest romance novel, Our Perfect Storm. She’s an author who uses location as a character in itself and writes about it so beautifully, and this book has made me want to visit Tofino in Canada. And I’m not the only one who has been inspired by reading to plan or visit a new destination.
To aid with your holiday planning, we asked a group of authors to tell us about the books that inspired them to travel to somewhere new and why.
Dalia Al-Dujaili recommends Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
When I was in New York alone for the first time in 2023, I decided to spend a few days exploring Boston and New England. I had romanticised ideas of the East Coast from my American Literature degree – The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Little Women, and the poetry of Robert Frost and Mary Oliver. So I boarded a 6am Greyhound to Boston – very main character! – with no money and barely anything to eat except nuts and American trail mix.
Five hours later, I checked into a random hostel, completely unprepared but enjoying the spontaneity. The next day, I had planned to take a ferry to Provincetown, where Mary Oliver lived, but a storm cancelled the ferries. Instead, I took the train to Salem. It was late October, so the town was full of pumpkins and candlelit New England houses. I spent the next few days exploring forests, visiting Louisa May Alcott’s house, browsing vintage bookshops, and eating lobster rolls. It was one of the best trips I’ve ever taken alone!
Dalia Al-Dujaili is the author of Babylon, Albion
