Break, break, break

Break, Break, Break 

Break, break, break,       
On thy cold gray stones, O Sea!
And I would that my tongue could utter         
The thoughts that arise in me. 

-Alfred, Lord Tennyson 

When I first moved to Brighton two summers ago I spent so much time by the sea. I felt so free and relaxed listening to the waves, and it seemed like my best creative ideas popped into my head when I was in the water.  Perhaps it was inspired by change, but I also think that the raw power of nature played a part. Recently, it has been green spaces that draw inspiration from me; parks, gardens, forests...earth instead of water. 


I want to spend more time outdoors, now. I have been reading stories that draw so much inspiration and feeling from the landscapes in which they are set, where characters live and breathe their surroundings, and I've missed having that connection. It makes me feel alive; and reading it in books makes the characters and the stories come to life (and, frustratingly, they feel like they are living more than me, sitting with a book curled up on the sofa with a cup of coffee!)


A few examples off the top of my head of some books that I think do this more than others:

• Wide Sargasso Sea - Jean Rhys (various Caribbean locations)
• Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte (Yorkshire Moors)
• When God Was a Rabbit - Sarah Winman (Cornwall)
• The God of Small Things - Arundhati Roy (Kerala, Southern India)