The Suffolk Coast – A Book Lovers Paradise

Suffolk is home to many well-known names in the literary world. With the stunning stretch of coastline, the beauty of the Coast and Heaths National Landscape, and quaint little towns and villages along the way, it’s no wonder the Suffolk Coast provides bundles of inspiration to authors and local artists.

If you’ve visited Southwold before then you’ll be sure to have heard the names of authors P.D James and George Orwell. P.D James’ novels, often with mysterious and dark plots, are thought to be inspired by her former home in Southwold’s High Street. George Orwell, born Eric Blair but used Suffolk’s River Orwell for his pen name, lived at Montague House in Southwold’s High Street and wrote his novel ‘A Clergyman’s Daughter’ during his time there. A plaque to commemorate Orwell’s links to Southwold is featured outside the property.

Other authors who reference or are inspired by Southwold and the surrounding area within their works include Suzette A Hill who authored the ‘Southwold Mysteries’ series (three books in total) and Penelope Fitzgerald’s ‘The Bookshop’ which was largely based on Fitzgerald’s real-life experiences in working in the Sole Bay Bookshop in Southwold’s High Street in the 1960s.

Suffolk also sets the scene for many of Ruth Rendell’s crime novels. Rendell lived in Aldeburgh and uses Orford and Sudbury as the setting for many of her novels. She also produced a non-fiction publication dedicated to her love of the county of Suffolk.

Suffolk’s literary connections span back over centuries, with Charles Dickens referencing Blundeston in his works and it is thought William Shakespeare visited the area during a time when the plague would have been rife in London.

And it’s not just authors taking inspiration from places in Suffolk. A little further south you’ll find the unique and magical seaside village of Thorpeness. Thorpeness was created by Glencairn Stuart Ogilvie as a holiday village for his friends and family. One of Stuart Ogilvie’s friends who frequented Thorpeness was in fact J M Barrie, author of the children’s book ‘Peter Pan’. It was the tales of Neverland and the characters which inspired Ogilvie to create Thorpeness’s central ‘Meare’, a shallow boating lake with little islands and water stretching some forty acres. Today it provides a place where families can go and enjoy the water with kayaks, dinghies, rowing boats and canoes available to hire.

Being a literature hot-spot, Suffolk plays host to a range of annual literary festivals throughout the county including the Felixstowe Book Festival, Aldeburgh Literary Festival and Southwold Literary Festival, so if you’re visiting our lovely county be sure to check out the dates of these festivals.