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Today, I’m sharing a very different book from my library. When I found out about the premise behind this book, I could not wait to get my hands on it. The whole concept intrigued and excited me!
Have you ever read a novel that took place in a great house, a house that played such an integral role in the story that it essentially became another character in the book? Maybe you tried to piece the rooms together in your imagination or tried to plot out the layout of the home. Did you long to see the home and wish the author had included a few photos showing the rooms he or she so beautifully described in the story?
Author, Rosalind Ashe, along with a team of 7 illustrators, pulled all the information and details they could glean from 10 well-loved books/novels and have done their best to bring those character houses to life on the pages of Literary Houses.
In the BNOTP Library: Literary Houses:Ten Famous Houses in Fiction
Author: Rosalind Ashe
Hardcover: 139 pages
Book Size: 11.4 x 8.3 x 0.8
3 Things I Like About This Book:
- Love the whole concept behind this book. Even if I had pictured these homes in a slightly different way, I found it immensely exciting and fun to see how Rosalind Ashe and her team of illustrators envisioned the homes that played such an important part in these 10 well-known books.
- The homes brought to life in this book come from the following great books: Rebecca, Great Expectations, The Picture Of Dorian Grey, The House Of The Seven Gables, The Great Gatsby, Dracula, Northanger Abbey, Jane Eyre, Howards End and The Hound Of The Baskervilles.
- A few rooms are shared from each home, focusing on the rooms where the descriptions in the book were detailed enough to illustrate them. In a few cases, they were able to actually put together a floor plan of the home!
Pssst: She wrote a second book and I’ll feature it, too. I love them both!
You can read more about this book, Literary Houses:Ten Famous Houses in Fiction at Amazon where I normally buy my books, via the picture link below.
You’ll find previously featured books from the BNTOP library here: In The BNOTP Library or just click on the collage below.
Sounds like an exciting book! Can’t wait to hear about the other one.
Thanks, Mary…they are both great! Here’s a link to the post about the other one that just posted: https://betweennapsontheporch.net/more-literary-houses-by-rosalind-ashe/
I adore this book and the next one she wrote–I’ve practically worn some of the pages until they feel like cloth! As an author of a fiction series set in a stately manor home that I call Rosemont, I’m intrigued by the concept of an author actually filling in the details of the homes that a reader has wondered about. Now we have Pinterest, so we can post pictures!
Barbara, I loved this idea, too and it sounds like they went to great pains to try and create what the authors had in mind. 🙂
I love the idea of this book! Even when I was reading your list of books featured, I was remembering how I envision the house. Especially The Picture of Dorian Grey. What a great idea for a book.
Isn’t it?! I LOVED the idea, too!
What a fun concept! This would be a really fascinating book. Thanks for letting me know about it. I love all the books that you share. I just wish I could buy them all.
Debbie, buy them used, that’s what I do. This one is available at Amazon used for just a penny plus shipping of $3.99. Just be sure and read the feedback of the seller when buying a used book…and read the description of the book really well. I’ve gotten some wonderful used books at Amazon. I usually try to buy the ones that say “Like New” or “Very Good” condition. I also stay away from those that have “canned” descriptions that don’t really sound like they’ve even looked at the book.
Hi Susan;
Thanks so much, I have read quite a few of the books you mentioned and would love to order this book. Oh wow, to see some rooms where Rebecca stayed, The House of Seven Gables was wonderful, I am so looking forward to getting this one!! They have both used and new books at a very reasonable price! Thanks, have a great day. Love, Doreen
I really loved it…I immediately ordered her second one. 🙂
What an intriguing, might I even suggest, ‘novel,’ (har-har) idea! I find this fascinating! What a concept. At first I thought you meant she wrote about stories set in real homes, but when I realized that they simply ‘designed’ the home as they pictured it from the author’s descriptions, I thought that was very unique. Thanks for sharing this, Susan.