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10 Gorgeous Retreats Perfect for A Quiet Reading Weekend

Have you ever wanted to slip away for a weekend with nothing but your favourite books for company? You’re not alone. Reading retreats – or holidays devoted exclusively to reading – are a growing tourism trend. Even business magnate Bill Gates has confessed to scheduling regular week-long reading retreats, where he pours over books he has put aside to be read.

If you’re contemplating a literary weekend away, here are ten gorgeous ideas to keep in mind.

1. Voewood House, North Norfolk, UK – Guests are offered a one-to-one session with a bibliotherapist at this reading retreat on the North Norfolk coast. With a bespoke list of literary fiction to enrich your stay, the weekends usually feature lots of evening conversation with fellow book lovers over dinner and brisk afternoon walks to the sea.

2. The Beach Hut, Cornwall, UK – An 85 year-old former teahouse located on a remote cove on the rugged, windswept coast of Cornwall. At only 510 square feet, this snug little abode provides the perfect place to curl up beside the wood burning stove with a good book. The sea-facing front porch is another favoured reading spot, where you can disappear into your novel to the rhythmic sound of waves crashing. Undisturbed bliss.

Novelicious Travels to...Agatha Christie's English Riviera (Part Two)

Part one of our Agatha Christie weekend ended at the great crime writer's holiday home, Greenway, where I almost expected a mysterious body to be floating amongst the debris and dead leaves, so atmospheric was the house – thank goodness there wasn't. From Greenway, we caught a bus, which took us tootling back to the hotel. Not just any old bus, mind you, but a 1940s vintage bus with Agatha's name on the side. And what a jerky, jiggly bus ride it was! (Apparently the bus is the ex mobile library from the TV series, Heartbeat). It was a lovely end to our day of exploration.

The following day we had a guided tour of the area. We could, of course, easily walked the Agatha Christie Mile along the seafront ourselves, but John, our guide, wanted to take us to Agatha related attractions off the beaten path and away from the more obvious track.

We started with Torquay Town Hall, which, during the First World War, was used as a hospital. Agatha was a nurse there, looking after the casualties from France. After suffering from the flu, she returned a month later to find another department had opened up in a building nearby – The Dispensary (pictured below). She spent many long days there gaining valuable knowledge about poisons thanks to her work, and it is actually whilst working at The Dispensary that she started to write her first detective novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles. The book featured a rather unusual Belgian detective called Poirot...

Novelicious Travels to...Agatha Christie's English Riviera (Part 1)

As huge Agatha Christie fans, we sent Helen off on a literary tour of the author’s Torquay recently. Today, Helen takes us on a part one of her journey through the landmarks (and even the crime writer’s own home), which were used as creepy, murderous backdrops in her numerous books and tv adaptations. 

"Poirot was directed to a winding path that led along the wood with glimpses of the river below. The path descended gradually until it came out at last on an open space, round in shape, with a low battlemented parapet. On the parapet Mrs.Oliver was sitting."

Agatha Christie has written over 80 novels and plays and more than 20 of these books were inspired by the South Devon landscape and landmarks. So, it is little wonder that South Devon, specifically the English Riviera, is so geared up to allow you to follow in this famous writer's footsteps. 

Agatha has a long history with the area. Born Agatha Miller in Torquay in 1890, she grew up in a house called Ashfield, sadly no longer there, and as a child and young woman would rollerskate down Princess Pier, go bathing in the sea and listen to concerts at The Pavillion amongst many other things. She would work, during the First World War, in a hospital – the building is still there – then later in the pharmacy, where she gained a good knowledge of drugs and poisons and the idea for her first novel about a certain Belgian detective. Later in her life she bought a holiday home called Greenway, a white Georgian house with woods sweeping down to the River Dart below.

Novelicious Picks...Five Agatha Christie Books With Real Life Settings You Can Actually Visit

We get very excited about visiting literary locations here at Novelicious. I mean, really excited. I've recently returned from a whirlwind tour of The English Riviera, where I discovered so many fascinating things about Agatha Christie, one of my favourite crime writers. Not only did she grow up in Torquay, and there are many places to visit associated with her, especially along the Agatha Christie Mile, but she also used many of the locations in her novels. These are just five examples. 

1. Dead Man's Folly – Agatha Christie's very own house was the inspiration for the location in this novel. The white Georgian house called Greenway, which you can approach in real life via steam train, road or river and explore inside and out – it's now owned by The National Trust – has its very own boat house on the river. This boat house was where a body was discovered during the village fete. Poirot investigates.

2. And Then There Were None and Evil Under the Sun – Both of these novels were based on Burgh Island and its hotel, a real-life island off the coast of Devon. The hotel and island were also used as the filming location in the TV adaptation of Evil Under the Sun starring David Suchet. In And Then There Were None, the island is called Soldier Island. Ten people are invited there, but the host fails to appear. In Evil Under the Sun, Poirot is holidaying on 'Smugglers' Island' along with a cast of characters including Kenneth and Arlena Marshall, Sir Horace Blatt and Patrick and Christine Redfern (no relation).

3. ABC Murders – Why are people being killed alphabetically? Alice Ascher in Andover, Betty Barnard in Bexhill and Sir Carmichael Clarke in Churston. The killer writes to Poirot, giving him the date and location of each murder. He signs himself ABC and leaves a copy of the ABC railway guide next to each of the victims. Churston is not far from Agatha Christie's holiday home, Greenway. Sir Carmichael is actually found in Elberry Cove, one of Agatha's favourite bathing spots. Also mentioned in the novel is Princess Gardens in Torquay. The picture above is of Agatha Christie's bust a short distance away from Princess Gardens.

Essential Travel Research by Carole Matthews

Our literary travel series has taken us to various far-flung corners of the globe in search of the settings behind favourite books.

Charleston in South Carolina – with its low country charm made famous in The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks; India for a tour of the locations that inspired Alexandra Potter’s The Love Detective and even Italy and Bali, where we followed in the footsteps of Eat, Pray, Love author Elizabeth Gilbert.

Today, we’re joined by bestselling author Carole Matthews, who explains why travel has become such an important part of her research process.

By Carole Matthews  

All my friends laugh their heads off when I say that I’m going on a trip for research for my next book. They think it’s all a big jolly and, when they see me on a beach with a colourful cocktail in my hand, I feel they might have a point.

But, over the years, I’ve found that travel has really enhanced my books and has thrown up ideas that I would have never previously considered. I’ve set books in Nepal and Peru and have written short stories in places like Venice, China and San Francisco. You can’t really set every story in your own town and while Google is the most fabulous tool available to writers on the planet, sometimes you just have to stump up the cash, get on a plane and go and see if for yourself.

With Calling Mrs Christmas, my heroine – Cassie Smith – is a Christmas planner who is tasked with organising the perfect Christmas for a millionaire’s children. So, of course, where else would they go but Lapland? It meant a magical trip during which I went dog sledding with huskies – the most fun you can have while wearing an Arctic suit – snowmobiling, cross country skiing and staying out in minus 36 degrees to watch the most spectacular display of the Northern Lights. That was more incredible and moving than I ever could have dreamed and I hope I’ve managed to convey that in my story. Everyone should see them at least once in their lifetime!

Novelicious Travels To...The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks

Editor Kerry spends much of her free time travelling to literary locations that have inspired or appeared in beloved books. Here, she takes us (and her poor husband) on a tour of the locations that appeared in the film adaptation of The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks.

Walking around the historic southern city of Charleston in South Carolina, you’d swear you were on a film set. Horse-drawn carriages passing centuries-old mansions with their magnolia-filled gardens and flickering gas lamps – nowhere can be that magical in real life, right?

Novelicious Travels To...The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

Occasionally you read a novel populated by such delightfully vivid characters, you forget they aren’t your actual friends. You turn the last page and look up, dazed and confused, wondering why you’re alone with nothing but a stone cold cup of tea and a onesie for company. How can you possibly go back to real life after this book, you wonder? How can you leave them all behind? And thus begins the bittersweet book hangover.

Mary Ann Shaffer’s The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is one of those novels. Written with warmth and humor as a series of letters, it is a celebration of the written word in all its guises, and of finding connection in the most surprising ways.

Laugh out loud funny and heartbreakingly moving in equal measure, the book actually came about when its American author found herself stranded on Guernsey as a heavy fog descended during her spontaneous trip to the island in 1976. Although the novel is fiction, the places mentioned – and the wartime German occupation of Guernsey – is very real.

Ever the roving literary adventurers, join us as we journey across the English Channel to explore the same locations that inspired Mary Ann Shaffer to write this lovely book.

We’ll have you back before your tea break is over, okay?

Novelicious Travels To...India with Alexandra Potter

Alexandra Potter's latest novel, The Love Detective, is about Ruby Miller, a romance writer who has has rather disastrously lost her faith in love. Ruby ups sticks, jumps on a plane and travels to Goa to escape her troubles. Amid fortresses and fortune tellers, and a whirlwind of weddings, she uncovers plenty of adventures and fascinating stories of love, lost and found ...

Here, Alexandra explains why India is the perfect place to rediscover romance. Dipping into her own personal photo album from her month-long research tour, she takes us on an expedition around the bustling cities and spiritual villages she found so inspiring.

By Alexandra Potter

 

I was inspired to write my latest novel, The Love Detective, after spending an incredible month in India. Beginning in the lush south of Goa, with its swaying palm trees, endless beaches and lazy days in a hammock, I took an unforgettable train journey to Delhi, in the north.

Nothing could have prepared me for Delhi. It's seriously loud, terribly polluted, and utterly chaotic. But it's also brighter, faster and more crazy than anything I could have ever imagined. I loved it!

From there, I travelled to Rajasthan, otherwise known as The Land of the Kings. This region of India is truly mesmerising. Filled with ancient history, beautiful palaces and lavish fortresses, amazing colourful cities and stunning scenery, it oozes romance.

10 of the Best Writing Retreats

Recently, we wrote about ten gorgeous retreats perfect for a quiet reading weekend. This week, we’re rounding up ten equally beautiful retreats for writers. In idyllic environments – far away from the demands and routines of everyday life – each offers the opportunity to relax and hone your craft. So why not pack your manuscript and your pajamas and treat yourself to a few blissful days of writing in one of these inspirational settings?

1. Whiteface Lodge, Lake Placid, USA – Pine beams, cast-iron fireplaces and six million acres of mountainous parkland, the rustic and incredibly cozy Whiteface Lodge in New York State is the perfect place to pitch your laptop for a week or two. Each suite boasts a full kitchen, a writing desk and a seriously stunning view or, if you prefer a little people watching while you write, you can work in the downstairs lounge by the fireplace. Once you’ve logged your daily word count, there are plenty of opportunities for skiing, skating, bobsledding, fishing and canoeing, and the 5,800-square-foot spa offers “a heaven-sent four-handed massage”. We’ll take two of those, please.

Novelicious Travels To...Elizabeth Gilbert's Italy, India and Bali from Eat, Pray, Love

Lapping up gelato in Italy, seeking spiritual guidance in India and falling in love in Bali. When American author Elizabeth Gilbert published her 2006 memoir Eat, Pray, Love – chronicling her trip around the world after her divorce – women flocked to all three countries in search of a similar life-changing adventure.

In 2010, the movie adaptation of the book, starring Julia Roberts, only served to strengthen the Eat, Pray, Love globe-trotting movement. Today, in homage to one of our favourite memoirs, we’re taking you on your own personal tour of the locations made famous in Gilbert’s beloved novel and film. Join us as we eat in Italy, pray in India and love in Bali ...

Eat in Italy

Julia Roberts claims she gained 10 pounds while filming the ‘eat’ portion of the movie in Italy, and it’s not hard to see why. Long lunches over red wine, creamy, comforting bowls of pasta and pillowy crusted pizzas topped with sweet tomato sauce and mozzarella – Italy is for indulging.

25 of the Best Annual Book Festivals Around The World

Cold and dreary January is the perfect month to make travel plans for the year ahead. And what better reason to embark on a new adventure than a beautiful book festival you’ve been dying to visit? With venues ranging from Indian palaces and ocean fronts lined with palm trees to eclectic English market towns, here’s our pick of the 25 best annual book festivals around the world.

 

1. Jaipur Literary Festival, India, January

While thinking of this dusty, provincial city usually brings images of spectacular pink palaces – still guarded by turban-wearing watches – to mind, Jaipur is actually making a big name for itself in the book world. Every January, the literary community gathers for the annual Jaipur Literary Festival, which is said to be the largest free book event in the world. From Nobel laureates to local language writers, Man Booker prize winners to debut novelists, the festival offers five days of readings, debates and discussions at the beautiful Diggi Palace in the Rajasthani capital. If we could go to one literary event in 2014, this would probably be it.

 

2. Hay Festival Cartagena, Colombia, January

Slightly more exotic than its Welsh counterpart, the Hay Festival Cartagena has become one of the most important literary events in the Hispanic world. Every year, a celebration of literature, visual arts, cinema, music, geopolitics, journalism and the environment takes over Colombia’s colourful walled city for four very lively days.

 

Novelicious Travels To...The Shelleys' Rome with Lynn Shepherd

Lynn Shepherd’s latest book is a mystery that explores the dark lives and unexplained secrets of the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, and his wife Mary, author of Frankenstein. Here, she takes us deep into the heart of Rome in Italy, where we retrace the footsteps of the sad and strange young literary couple.

When Novelicious asked me to write a piece on places associated with the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley and his wife Mary, I was really rather spoilt for choice. Did I opt for Lake Geneva, where they spent that fateful summer with Byron and Frankenstein was born? Or the Ligurian coast, where Shelley drowned in a storm at the age of only 29? Or Naples, or Venice, or any one of half a dozen other places they visited during the three restless years they spent in Italy? But in the end it had to be Rome. Not just because it’s one of my three favourite cities in the world (Oxford and Sydney being the other two), but also because it was both an inspiration to Shelley’s poetic imagination, and the setting for a tragedy that was to leave him believing he was “hunted by calamities”.

The Shelleys arrived in Italy in early 1818, and Shelley had his first sight of Rome in the autumn of that year. He was exhilarated by his first experience of the Eternal City, and spent a week there, returning in early March 1819 with his wife Mary, and her step-sister, Claire Clairmont. This strange and sometimes stormy ménage a trois was one of the inspirations for my novel, A Treacherous Likeness.  

Novelicious Travels To...Jane Austen's London with Louise Allen

With Christmas less than two weeks away, many of us are making the trek to London's famous shopping streets for our festive purchases. Today, Regency romance author Louise Allen leads us on an altogether different kind of shopping excursion in the capital city. Join us as we explore Jane Austen's London.

Jane Austen knew London very well from visits that began in 1788 and continued until her banker brother Henry left London in 1816. Jane came to visit friends, shop and stay with brother Henry, both for pleasure and to support him through illness and the loss of his wife. Here is a walk through some Jane Austen hotspots that you can do in an hour on your next trip to London – allow as long as you like to explore all the side streets and shops along the way!

Start at Admiralty Arch with a view down the Mall to Buckingham Palace (The Queen’s House in Jane’s day) and Trafalgar Square, which was completed several years after her death. Turn left into Spring Gardens. In 1813, Jane visited the Society of Painters in Watercolours exhibition here looking – without success – for an image, which represented her imaginings of Elizabeth Bennett, who she was sure would be dressed in yellow. She did find one of Jane Bennett though – like all authors Jane seems to have enjoyed ‘finding’ her characters in pictures. These days we are more likely to find them in adverts and in movies!

Novelicious Travels To...Brontë Country

As a reader, one of the most joyful experiences can be visiting the actual places that inspired and featured in the books you adore. More than just holidaying in the footsteps of literary greats, novel travel allows you to live and breathe the same sights, sounds and smells as your beloved fictional characters. In some instances, you can make a cuppa in their kitchens and meet their neighbours; you can even browse their bookshelves and wander the landscapes that inspired their most creative and memorable moments.

In this new series, we’re going to take you on a tour like no other, right inside the pages of your favourite books! We’ll bring the tea flask, you pack the sandwiches, okay?

First up, Brontë Country.

The Brontë sisters lived most of their short lives in the Yorkshire village of Haworth, where we begin our journey. In 1887, all three girls had their most important works published. Jane Eyre for Charlotte, Agnes Grey for Anne and Wuthering Heights for Emily, but within eight years all three had died, outlived by their father, who was the local clergyman.

While Haworth looks pretty as a picture today – all brick cottages, cobbled streets and charming little boutique shops – when the sisters were alive, it was a crowded industrial town, polluted, smelly and incredibly unhygienic. The death rate was as high as any of the larger cities such as London or Bradford, with the average age of demise just 24.