My favorite books have a larger-than-life character lurking in the background of every scene, influencing every plot point, every character arc: the physical setting.

There is something absolutely delicious about the cold winter storm suddenly locking characters into a closed-room mystery, or about the lush garden growing secrets beneath its soil, or about the strangely hard-to-find town providing shelter to those who would prefer their location be forgotten…

Whether it’s Garden Spells by Sarah Allen, Ways to Hide in Winter by Sarah St. Vincent, or The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton, having a well-developed, unique setting takes atmospheric writing to the next level.

I love when I can smell the spell-casting herbs a character is crushing in their laboratory, when I can hear the crunch of autumn leaves under a character’s boots, when the world-building is so well done that the setting expands before me as the characters move around. I love it even more when the setting presses a subtle blade to the plot’s skin: creating chaos, forcing characters to make choices, becoming a plot device, villain, or rescuer all on its own. “Setting as character” and masterfully done atmospheric writing often go hand in hand. The two support and play off each other so very well. 

I’d love to know what you’ve read where the setting is an important character or what novels hypnotize you with its atmospheric writing. Email or dm us your recommendations! 

And as always: thank you for reading. :)