Swiss-based good reads
Want to read some books based in Switzerland? We've compiled the ultimate list for your pleasure.
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It's a nice life here. Mountains, very clean city centres, absolutely nothing open on a Sunday....Very nice.
Reading is often seen as an escape from reality, but living in Switzerland can make you want to be reminded of reality - or at least enjoy the beautiful country you live in.
English book chain, Waterstones, writes on their website: Any writer who mattered seems to have passed through Switzerland at one time or another. So here's a glance at some of the best books of those who did just that.
If you're a fan of historical fiction, Einstein's Dreams is based in Bern where a young Albert Einstein is working on his theory of relativity.
Over in Geneva - or at least along it's lake's shores - Hotel Du Lac is set, which was a Man Booker prizewinner. It's the story of a young Englishwoman who visits a hotel in its off-season. A charming and atmospheric novel, full of rich descriptions of the Lake Geneva area.
Famous primarily for The Great Gatsby, Scott Fitzgerald wrote a number of books whose protagonists passed through Switzerland. Most notably, in Tender Is The Night, Dick Diver covers all the Swiss bases: Zurich, Bern, Geneva and Neuchatel.
If you're looking for something a little less Zurich-Bern-Geneva, The Visit is set in the fictional Swiss town of Güllen. A very Swiss-sounding story, The Visit is about a local woman who returns to her town after becoming rich and thus throws the whole community into moral chaos.
Many Swiss-based stories were written a number of decades ago but Switzerland has definitely not lost its ability to inspire writers. In 2013, Libby O released a teen and young adult novel, The Great Alpine Adventure; a coming-of-age story about a snowboarder in the Swiss Alps.
And if you're looking for a brand new novel, this week local author, Emily Lemon, is releasing Obsession, which is partly based in Versoix near Geneva. It's a romance novel about three young adults who move to the area to start a new life which does not quite go to plan...
Happy reading everyone, it's the perfect season to curl up with a book by the fire!
