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"I love novels with a strong sense of place, where I really get a feel for life in that city or town. Which novelists do you think do this well, and which of their books do you recommend? Ellen responds: A sense of place is the backbone of many novels, especially if you expand your definition to the psychological and emotional space a community creates. To me, the term &amp;quot;sense of place&amp;quot; reflects the distinct characteristics that make you realize from the get-go that the story is situated in a specific environment. For example, consider the superb novels by Howard Norman. Although he grew up in the Midwest, Norman has made the cold and unforgiving east coast of Canada an important element in his work. I&amp;#039;d recommend starting with The Bird Artist, set in Newfoundland at the turn of the 20th century. The title character is a modestly successful artist and the grown son of local residents. When his dad leaves on a bird-hunting expedition and Mom takes up with the lighthouse keeper (gives a whole new meaning to the phrase &amp;quot;light housekeeping,&amp;quot; doesn&amp;#039;t it?), the bird artist loses his cool, and therein lies the tale. The chilly, windswept backdrop is an essential part of this drama about the universal predilection for preserving your family as you know it \u2014 in this case, at considerable cost. Speaking of Newfoundland, I can&amp;#039;t resist mentioning another &amp;quot;icebreaker.&amp;quot; That book is The Shipping News, by Annie Proulx, which won the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize. The story of a sad-sack resident of a small coastal town is wedded to its forbidding Newfoundland setting as it traces his recovery from a divorce and the gradual realization that he, too, deserves to be loved. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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