The book explores places in a city where you find traces of either the author or books. You will get to explore 25 locations. Instead of pictures you have artistic impressions by Amy Grimes which is worth the price of the book alone. There are maps but they might not be the ‘normal’ maps you may expect, but they are rather whimsical and full of character and they capture the essence of the places they describe. There is also some information about each place.

Some of the featured locations are: Paris (Les Misérables), Sierra de Guadarrama (For Whom the Bell Tolls) La Mancha (Don Quixote), Cairo (Palace Walk), Soweto (Burger’s Daughter), and Chile (The House of the Spirits). I was pleasantly surprised to see books I have read and others I have not, which means I have new books to read as a result.

The author, Sarah Baxter grew up in England. You can feel her passion for travel. She has extensive experience as a travel writer and has also contributed to more than a dozen Lonely Planet guidebooks.

I loved the writing style, the colours throughout and found it easy to read. My only criticism is that it does not give you information on how to find the places. If you are expecting to find real maps, photos etc. you may be disappointed.

This book is stunning and would make a great addition to any bibliophile’s collection.