Atmospheric Books to Transport You Out of Quarantine
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During these stressful times, I know that a lot of us are spending a lot more time stuck inside, staring out our windows wistfully while some plaintive piano soundtrack plays in our mind, doing our best yearning Kiera Knightly impression. So, while we’re all dreaming of running through the fields to a soaring film score, maybe now would be a good time for a few books whose atmospheric prose manages to transport us far and away from wherever we happen to be sitting while reading them.
Atmospheric books are those delicious reads that pick us up and carry us away to someplace that may or may not be utterly different from our own world. These worlds could be millions of miles out in space or in the house next door, but the point is that the writer has somehow managed to craft a world so detailed and specific that the world feels as real as our own. What follows is a list of some of my favorite atmospheric books. Hopefully, you’ll find one or two that can transport you out of this trying time we all find ourselves sharing.
Supper Club by Lara Williams
You might have already guessed that this particular book is going to have your mouth watering throughout the story, and you’d be right, mostly. Supper Club by Lara Williams is a richly detailed and lushly described story of a group of women taking back the reins when it comes to food and its power over them and their bodies. Williams’ descriptions of the supper club scenes--scenes where the women gather to gorge themselves on mountains of food the protagonist has prepared--will have you salivating and running to the fridge. Besides, everyone else is baking sourdough right now; this book is the perfect thing to keep you company while you wait for your starter to be ready.
You can purchase Supper Club here.
The Book of X by Sarah Rose Etter
Where Supper Club might have made your stomach growl, The Book of X by Sarah Rose Etter will put it in knots. In this sharp and exacting novel, the main character goes through life with her stomach literally twisted into one knot at her center, a plight that Etter deftly manages to make both sympathetic and wholly unnerving. I would be lying if I said that this book didn’t upset my stomach from time to time. From the descriptions of the meat quarry where the protagonist’s family gets the source of their income to the heartbreaking and all-too-relatable depictions of rote, soulless office work, Etter’s world is one that will grab you by the back of the neck and drag you in for hours at a time. I only wish I could erase the experience from my head so I could have it for the first time again. Maybe this will be your lucky day, and you’ll get to read this atmospheric book in all its meaty glory for the first time yourself.
You can purchase The Book of X here.
Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
Nothing like some good ole suburban drama to take you right out of a pandemic, and Little Fires Everywhere has got drama in spades. Celeste Ng has so completely envisioned the rich, storied community of Shaker Heights that it feels like you could close the book, open your front door, and be in the middle of some heated controversy of your own just as easily. Ng is a master of character and detail, and it’s those aspects that bring the world of Shaker Heights to life, transporting you off of your couch and directly into the world of Mia and Elena and their families as they struggle to come to terms with what it means to be part of a community.
You can buy Little Fires Everywhere here.
Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward
This is one of those books where atmospheric really is one of the best words to describe the tone. Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward is a feat of imagination and craft, beautifully weaving together a world entrenched in its own history and culture. The prose has been described as “voluptuous,” [Entertainment Weekly] and rightly so. Ward’s choice to linger on the details of her rural Mississippi setting creates a world that is rich and full of life that will haunt the reader just as the ghosts in the story, both literal and figurative, haunt the characters.
You can buy Sing, Unburied, Sing here.
The Dinner by Herman Koch
Atmospheric is the perfect descriptor for this book, and this book is perfect to round out this list, since we started with one about food. The Dinner by Herman Koch is a book divided into parts based on the individual courses of a meal, and each part takes place over the span of that course. The novel itself is set within one of those fancy restaurants a lot of us could only ever imagine setting foot in, and the descriptions follow in step with the richness of the setting. Every detail is attended to, and the book is wonderful at drawing you into a world of power and money, scheming and falls from grace. This is one of those books that I’ve thrown at the wall from sheer enthusiasm for the twists and turns that sucked me in again and again. I highly recommend you have a nightcap at hand when you get to the climax.
You can buy The Dinner here.
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About
Sebastian Murdoch
Sebastian Murdoch is a fiction writer living in Jackson, MS with her two cats, Kafka and Yoshimi. Sebastian is a graduate of the Lesley University Low-Residency MFA program, where she studied under experienced and talented writers such as Hester Kaplan, A.J. Verdelle, Rachel Kadish, and Michael Lowenthal. Her short story, "Georgia's Errand," can be found on the Johannesburg Review of Book's website, and she is currently an intern for WriteorDieTribe.com. You can find her on Twitter at @SEMurdoch, on Instagram at smurdoch94, and at her website sebastianwrites.com.
