Setting is often secondary in novels. Characters might live in anonymous suburbs and towns, indistinguishable by region, lacking particular detail about the history and customs of the area. In other books, the location is as detailed as a character, full of quirks and recognizable traits.
San Francisco has been my home for twenty-six years. As with anything familiar, it is sometimes difficult to stand back and describe it. I might focus on the Hitchcock noir of Nob Hill, the queer spaces in the Castro, or the old-world feel of Chinatown. I might expand to the beauty of the Oakland hills across the bay from the glittering city. Or the campus at Berkeley, with its bell tower standing sentinel.
How do books fare in capturing the area? I examine five in this week’s blog.
1.
San Francisco has a Chinese population of twenty percent, a fact easily absorbed by the ubiquity of Mandarin language in public spaces. Chinatown is often presented in guidebooks as a tourist location, so it’s easy to forget that this is a neighborhood that served as a haven for immigrants in earlier times.
Malinda Lo brings the historic Chinatown to life in this queer YA novel, which won the National Book Award. Lily is a doctor’s daughter with dreams that extend beyond the insular community she is being raised in. When she meets Kath, a shared interest in going to a drag performance leads to first love.
This is a slow-burn romance that depicts both an immigrant neighborhood and a closeted gay community, still under the thumb of mid century values. The final scene, outside the famous Vesuvio bar in North Beach, ripped my heart out.
2.
The title refers to a California reality: the beautiful Golden State is built on fault lines that could cause major destruction. Tremors are believed to be a good sign: small earthquakes ease the pressure and reduce the risk of a big one.
All of this is somehow a metaphor for the unstable domestic life of the unlikeable protagonist of this engrossing novel. After a lengthy relationship with a woman, she leaves her to raise their child with her onetime lover, the child’s presumptive father. This leads to an ’80s stab at polyamory and blended families.
Most of the story is set in Berkeley. The details of brunches and work parties felt right to me. A lot of reviewers didn’t like the protagonist or the cliffhanger ending, which hinges on the paternity of the child. It all worked for me.
3.
Jenna Ross is a court psychologist living in Bernal Heights with her partner and child. She is haunted by the news that her childhood friend has drown in their Florida hometown. She becomes obsessed with what happened to Del after their teenage romance ended, and increasingly convinced her death was not accidental.
While a lot of this story takes place in Florida, there are some nice Bay Area details. Jenna’s son, for instance, thinks that the Oakland shipping yard cranes look like dinosaurs. That’s a great observation about a common but unsung view.
4.
This is a lovely family saga about four siblings who encounter a psychic who tells them the exact dates each will die. From this premise, the story of their different choices unfolds.
Simon moves to San Francisco to work at a gay bar. He is fated to die of AIDS. We see his world and meet his boyfriend. Another sibling, Varya, turns up in Marin as a longevity scientist working with monkeys at a research institute two miles north of Skywalker Ranch. I found both of these stories compelling, albeit somewhat limited to era.
There are plenty of references that jump out to a local. For example, Varya is interviewed by a San Francisco Chronicle reporter and there are mentions of the San Pablo Bay.
In this case, the local details made reading more fun. I think it may be one reason I liked it so much.
5.
This delightful series features a bipolar former domestic terrorist who makes his living as a tarot reader on Telegraph Avenue near the Berkeley campus. For the uninitiated, Telegraph is a street of head shops, indie bookstores, and lunch places. You are more likely to see an incense vendor than a cop.
It’s a perfect setting for these kooky plots. Each one centers on a different card in the tarot deck. This one features a murder that occurred while the victim was under a hood in a dominatrix’s lair.
Small gems like these are why I love reading. I wish there were more titles in the series.
Books Smitten 