Places in fiction

I've been thinking about locations in novels. Somtimes books are clearly set in a particular place; for example Remarkable creatures has to be in Lyme Regis. Somtimes the place is completely fictional and sometimes there is a blending of the two. Kate de Goldi commented on this when she explained about the settings in 10pm question; although the boys started at the top of the zig-zag in Wellington by the time they got to the bottom they were in Christchurch! I have just read a book set in my old home town of Filey - a small seaside settlement in East Yorkshire. The book in question though was called Scawsby and it included elements from Filey; the cliffs, the bay, the brigg, the 2 carriage train that we all took to the Grammar school but it also included elements from other Yorkshire places to give depth to the story. Why was I so keen to read Scawsby? The book, a legal novel written in 1977, would not be a usual choice for me. I'm reminded of the debate televised for NZ Book month about 'the great New Zealand novel' - I think we do like to read about ourselves!

Read what Margaret Drabble wrote about Filey