FEBRUARY YA BOOK OF THE MONTH: Afterlove by Tanya Byrne | how visiting somewhere impacts your reading experience

Hi Everyone!

Last summer, I went to Brighton for a day. You can learn more about it in this post. Later in the year, I read Afterlove, and IT IS SET IN BRIGHTON! This added such a special layer to the book and made my reading experience that much more memorable. Today I wanted to talk about why I believe that visiting somewhere can impact your reading experience.

Obviously this is specific because it means that the book has to be set in a specific place in contemporary times, although I guess if it is in the past visiting the place could give perspective on how it's changed. It could also be that you visit a museum or a birthplace because after visiting the Jane Austen Centre in Bath last summer, I really wanted to read more Jane Austen and it taught me a lot about the time, which helped when I did read more.

Here are five reasons why I think visiting a place where a book is set (or a place relating to a book) can help with the reading experience and make it that much more magical and special.

1. The 'Vibe'

Brighton especially very much has a 'vibe'. It's pretty well-known for its style and visiting helped me to imagine what it was like and put it all in context. But I think every place is unique and if you have a taste of that, you can better understand what it is like for the characters to live there. Taking the example of the Jane Austen Centre once more, I grew to love the 'regency feel' and I experienced that when visiting and later when I read her works.

2. Specific Places

In Afterlove, there is a very special scene when the characters are below the bridge near the train station, which I walked under. This was so cool to read about because I could visualise exactly where they were! Not many books mention a specific place, but when they do and you've been there, it's amazing!

3. Layout of the place

Brighton is laid out in a specific way. You have the lanes and multi-coloured houses with the murals and independent shops and you have the pier with the amusements and greasy food. Knowing this meant I could further connect to the characters and the way they were moving throughout the city. They mention in a few places the access to the beach as the beach itself plays an important role and having been there was very surreal when I found out what the author makes happen to the beach and...YES.

(that's me trying to keep it spoiler free)

4. Imagine what it's like to live there

I don't know if this is just me, but when i visit somewhere I always think about what it would be like to live there. And through a book you can live there with the characters! This is a concept I love and when I read this I truly felt as if I was right there, living in the chaos of Brighton. It was a truly beautiful experience and it's one of those books that will stay with me much better because of it!

5. Deeper Connection with characters

This is pretty much summed up in my previous points, but I think having been to Brighton helped me develop a much deeper connection with the characters, for all the reasons mentioned above.

I hope this post explains my ideas about how visiting somewhere, in my case Brighton, impacts the reading of a book set there. It's a very specific thing that won't usually be possible - most books are set in fictional towns! 

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Let's chat!

Have you visited somewhere that made reading a book set there even more magical? What do you think about this idea? 

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