Reading a novel set in the destination you're visiting adds a whole other layer to your experience of the place. You get a much better idea of the culture, traditions, food and festivals and as a result a much better understanding of the people. Wherever you're going on holiday this year, here are books to match the location, from France to Greece.
FRANCE
Family Friends by Chloë Ashby
This story of two couples, who hire a house together in France, with their children and stepchildren in tow, has everything I like in a literary summer read: stunning location, complicated friendships and messy, long marriages under the microscope. Bliss!
Fig Tree Family Friends by Chloe Ashby
Almost Life by Kiran Millwood Hargrave
This sweeping love story begins on the steps of the Sacré-Cœur in Paris in the summer of 1978 and follows Erica and Laure through the decades as they move in and out of each other’s lives.
Almost Life by Kiran Millwood Hargrave
The Artist by Lucy Steeds
Provence, 1920: Edouard Tartuffe, a (fictional) reclusive painter, and his niece Ettie, are joined by young aspiring journalist Joseph. Rich and evocative. Out now in paperback.
SPAIN
The Orange House by Isabelle Broom
A couple on the brink of divorce return to the house in Mallorca where they met 20 years before in this bittersweet, beautiful novel. It’s a bit of a departure for Broom, and although I love her escapist destination books, this sensitive exploration of marriage and mental health is her best yet.
USA
The Shampoo Effect by Jenny Jackson
From the author of Pineapple Street comes another juicy novel set among a tight-knit group of wealthy friends in a New England seaside town. Writer Caroline arrives in town and soon falls for local man Van. When she meets his friends, she finds out one is pregnant with his child…
Random House Books for Young Readers The Shampoo Effect by Jenny Jackson
Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry
Henry is known for her swoonsome romances set in beautiful locations. This one is set on a small island off the coast of Georgia, where a reclusive heiress invites two authors – Alice and Hayden – to compete to write her biography. Will their hatred of each other stand in the way of getting the job done?
Penguin Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry
Caller Unknown by Gillian McAllister
Simone arrives in Texas for a camping trip with her 18-year-old daughter, Lucy, but on the first night she wakes to find Lucy missing. From there, the story races at full tilt as Simone does all she can to get her back, even if it involves committing a terrible crime...
Michael Joseph Caller Unknown by Gillian McAllister
ITALY
Villa Coco by Andrew Sean Greer
I was totally charmed by this joyful novel about a directionless young man who takes a job working for an eccentric 90-year-old baroness. Set over a summer and autumn in Tuscany, it’s full of gossip, warmth and sunshine.
Sceptre Villa Coco by Andrew Sean Greer
GREECE
Female, Nude by Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett
This sultry story set during a sun-baked Greek villa holiday is a delight. Painter Sophie is on her best friend’s hen week. It should be a time to let loose, but instead there’s jealousy and mistrust between the friends – and an affair with a local man makes Sophie rethink her whole future. Out now in paperback.
Tinder Press Female, Nude by Rhiannon Lucy Coslett
Tinder Press Female, Nude by Rhiannon Lucy Coslett
Dead Heat by Sabine Durrant
This slow-burn thriller gives White Lotus vibes thanks to the luxe setting on Greece’s Mani Peninsula and its obnoxious characters. After losing his job, Matt Grimshaw holes up in his friends’ holiday house, where he becomes tangled up in others’ infidelities, old rivalries and, ultimately, tragedy.
MOROCCO
The Surf House by Lucy Clarke
After being mugged in Marrakesh, Bea finds sanctuary at a coastal retreat on the Moroccan coast run by Marnie and her boyfriend. But when she finds out that a woman went missing there a year ago, Bea realises it isn't quite the paradise she thought...
HarperCollins The Surf House by Lucy Clarke
AUSTRALIA
A Far-Flung Life by ML Stedman
Stedman mixes big emotions with beautiful writing to intoxicating effect. There are many gorgeous passages that are best read slowly, so the words can seep into you. This is an epic story about familial loyalty, resilience and forgiving yourself for the mistakes of your past, and it’s one that really stays with you.
Doubleday A Far-flung Life by ML Stedman
SCOTLAND
John Of John by Douglas Stuart
This third novel from the author of Shuggie Bain is another devastating story that got under my skin in the very best way. John-Calum Macleod (Cal) returns to the Outer Hebrides community where he grew up and to life with his religious father, who doesn’t know his son is gay.
Picador John of John by Douglas Stuart
