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Books set in Devon

32 replies

B1teS1ze · 22/02/2020 14:05

Will be having a staycation this year. Always read books where I travel and just realised I’ve never done it for home.

Agatha Christie aside it looks like slim pickings.

Any recommendations?

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GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER · 08/03/2020 16:54

IIRC ‘Mr Golightly’s Holiday‘ (Salley Vickers) is set in Devon.

A most delightful read IMO - one of my ‘keepers’.

Viletta · 03/03/2020 04:10

A Black fox running is a nature writing piece by Carter set in Dartmouth.

The French Lieutenant's Woman by Fowles

KindKylie · 01/03/2020 21:14

Goodnight Mr Tom and other Michelle Magorian's feature Devon!

impostersyndrome · 01/03/2020 21:11

I came on here to say The Lie of the Land by Amanda Craig, like @pollyhemlock. Excellent sense of place.

Grandma60 · 29/02/2020 20:54

The Postman Poet by Liz Shakespeare

HowlsMovingBungalow · 29/02/2020 07:47

Tarka the Otter?
The Outcasts Of Time is an intriquing read - quite dark!
Tim Pears Trilogy - I have The Horseman but yet to read so thanks for the reminder.

ChessieFL · 28/02/2020 12:33

The Outcasts of Time by Ian Mortimer is also set in and around Exeter, starting in 1348 and gradually moving forward through time.

bookbook · 28/02/2020 09:00

I see Marcia Willetts has been mentioned .
One of my favourites
A Horseman Riding By' - trilogy by R F Delderfield

Belacqua1975 · 28/02/2020 08:48

Tim Pears, The Horseman is set in Devon. I haven't read it but I've heard it's fantastic. Patrick Gale, Notes from an Exhibition is Cornwall but has glimmers of Devon and is a wonderful book...

mondaypolomint · 27/02/2020 23:40

There's a new Ann Cleeves book set in north Devon around Barnstaple called the long Call. She's written the Vera and Shetland series

TonTonMacoute · 27/02/2020 17:53

Tim Pears has written several books set in Devon, In the Place of Fallen Leaves is one, and there is a West Country trilogy.

QuintusEstInHorto · 27/02/2020 14:05

TP Fielden's Riviera series. Murder mysteries set in the 50s. Good fun!

SJaneS48 · 26/02/2020 20:48

Try The Moor by Sam Haysom - read it last year and I enjoy an intelligent horror! It revolves around a camping trip, strange things start to happen and one by one boys disappear.

Other than that as above, Sense & Sensibility. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett) is also set in Devon - yes it’s a bit trashy but it’s a good yarn!

Clawdy · 24/02/2020 22:54

Marcia Willett's novels are usually set in Devon, with one or two featuring Cornwall instead. They are light, feel-good reads, great for holidays.

Murrfect · 24/02/2020 20:44

The teacher by errr katerina diamond (maybe)
It’s modern set in Exeter n surrounds it’s got a few characters that if you squint right could be recognisable - and the Ann Cleeves in Ilfracombe/Barnstaple

pamplemoussed · 24/02/2020 20:40

One for the kids - Michael Morpugo’s amazing adventures of Adolphus Tips is set in the south hams.

XingMing · 24/02/2020 20:37

Several recent Robert Goddard novels are set in SE Cornwall if you can stretch your envelope a bit. Saltash/Plymouth and villages close by.

ChessieFL · 24/02/2020 19:12

Tim Weaver Never Coming Back is a missing person thriller mainly set in Devon. Many of his other books are also partly set there.

Most if not all of Belinda Bauer’s thrillers are set on Exmoor so Devon and Somerset.

PegHughes · 23/02/2020 11:10

If you like poetry there's Dart by Alice Oswald

Maddaddam · 23/02/2020 10:08

King of the Badgers by Philip Hensher, is set in a Devon fictional town very like Exmouth.

pollyhemlock · 23/02/2020 10:03

The Lie of the Land by Amanda Craig is very good. London family relocates to Devon. All does not go smoothly.

Original poster
B1teS1ze · 23/02/2020 08:10

Thank you for all the suggestions.Anything else?Read most of the classics, was hoping for something more modern. Interesting how few there are.

OP posts:
notchickenagain · 22/02/2020 23:09

I think a few of Robert Goddard's thrillers are set in Devon. Definitely west country anyway

ifigoup · 22/02/2020 20:06

Diary of a Provincial Lady (and sequels) by E.M. Delafield would be perfect! It’s so funny!

Beekeeper1 · 22/02/2020 19:40

Yes, of course, Charles Kingsley's 'Westward Ho!', I forgot that

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