The Astral Library by Kate Quinn quickly became one of my new favorite books when I realized that its premise is basically the same as what I attempt to do here at A Suitcase Full of Books. That is, to physically step into the settings of various books.
If you haven’t read it, briefly: The Astral Library only opens its doors to individuals it deems in need of a respite from the real world. The patrons can choose any book in the Public Domain, are supplied with an appropriate costume, then given a minor character role to play as they live inside their book.
Unfortunately, for those of us who have not had the pleasure of being whisked off into the fantastical Astral Library shelves (though goodness knows we could all use a respite from the real world!), we’ll have to do it the old fashioned way- figure out where to go that will bring the books to life for us so that we can feel like we’ve stepped into a storybook setting. Lucky for you, I’ve got suggestions! Here are places you can visit that will bring the books visited in The Astral Library to life so you can feel like you’re living in the pages of the novels.
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The Astral Library
The main character of The Astral Library, Alix, discovers an entrance to the fantasy library inside the Boston Public Library (known fondly to Bostoners as the BPL), and to her, the Astral Library interior looks similar to the BPL’s elegant reading room. So you can accomplish two things by visiting the famous BPL reading room: First, you can just check and see if any doorways to fantastical libraries might open before you. And second, you can walk through, or even sit down and study at one of the tables in the room that inspired the imagination of author Kate Quinn, and feel like you’ve stepped directly into Quinn’s and her character Alix’s vision of the Astral Library.
Note: The BPL has an old half and a new half, so when you visit, be sure you enter through the doorway on the side of the building with a fancier facade, rather than a modern-looking entrance. Proceed up the stairs between the two lion statues, and you’ll find the long Reading Room at the top of the stairs.
Around the World in 80 Days
Alix was on the verge of choosing Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne as her escape in the Astral Library when things begin to go wrong. If this book would be your choice as well, you might enjoy visiting the various Mr. Fogg’s Cocktail Bars of London. This collection of cocktail bars and taverns are inspired by Around the World in 80 Days and the Victorian Era decor will have you feeling like you’ve entered the world of Phileas Fogg. Enter these establishments at your own risk though, as you may just find yourself making bets about crazy travel adventures with your drinking partners!
Note: If you’re a Jules Verne fan and your new plans for an around the world trip takes you through Paris, the Arts et Metiers metro station resembles Captain Nemo’s Nautilus submarine from Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.
Sherlock Holmes’ London
The first story Alix enters in the Astral Library is a Sherlock Holmes mystery. Alix follows the Librarian who is in search of a patron playing a small role in Sherlock’s household. You too can enter Sherlock’s home, because the actual building located at 221B Baker St., London (Sherlock’s fictional address) is the Sherlock Holmes Museum! The downstairs rooms are set up to look like Sherlock’s study, and the rooms of Watson and the housekeeper, Mrs. Hudson.
Jane Eyre & Wuthering Heights
If your choice of escape is more along the lines of the atmospherically dark and wild Moors of the Bronte sisters, you’ll want to visit Haworth, England. This is a mystical-feeling village in the Moors with a dark past. It’s now believed that decaying bodies from the cemeteries contaminated the village water source, causing disease and possibly the young deaths of several Bronte family members who lived in the village Parsonage. Patrick Bronte, father of the three author sisters, was a pastor and thus the family lived in the Parsonage house next to the church in which he preached, and its cemetery sits between the house and the church. The home where Emily, Charlotte, and Anne Bronte lived and wrote is now the Bronte Parsonage Museum. Inside the home you’ll discover the origins of many of the dark themes that pervade the sisters’ novels.
After setting the mood with a visit to the Parsonage, and a quick walk through the village where many shops cater to those in need of occult paraphernalia, head out into the Moors. The Bronte Parsonage provides walking maps, one of the more popular trails will take you to what’s now known as, “The Bronte Waterfall.”
Read more about visiting Haworth
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Alix and the Astral Library’s Librarian travel through book after book to gather up Library patrons, one of which is a boy that’s been living in Tom Sawyer’s Missouri playing the role of a cousin of the lady helping to raise Huck Finn. Did you know you too can visit the world of Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer in Hannibal, Missouri? The Mark Twain Museum provides a map that will take you through town to 9 locations, including the homes of Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn, and Becky Thatcher. For the more adventuresome, you can also tour the cave labyrinth that inspired Tom’s adventures through the caves. And no trip into Tom Sawyer could be complete without getting on a Mark Twain Riverboat.
Dracula
From Tom Sawyer, the Astral Library characters next “margin-traveled to a pier in a town the Librarian said was called Whitby…” which is, of course, where Dracula starts. Today Whitby, England has a Dracula Experience, a Dracula Ghost Walk, and the famous Whitby Abbey ruins mentioned in the novel. But if you really want to get into character, twice a year Whitby hosts a Goth Weekend.
Sense and Sensibility
The best place to feel you’ve landed in Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility, or really any Austen novel, is Bath, England. In this beautiful city built almost entirely of golden sandstone one would not be out of place strolling in Regency attire at any time of year, but each September the city hosts the annual Jane Austen Festival. Attendees come from near and far and parade around the city in their Regency finest. During the festival there are dances and workshops and lectures that will have you feeling as though you’re living in one of Austen’s books.
If you can’t make it to Bath in September, you can still visit the Jane Austen Centre in Bath at any time. There you can dress up, stand face to face with Jane Austen made of wax, and get your photo with Mr. Darcy (also wax). Then you can stroll through the Sydney Gardens where Jane Austen frequently walked, and take a breather on the lawn of the Royal Crescent townhouses which have appeared in nearly every Austen film adaptation. Finally, you must have tea at the Pump Room, where many Austen heroines have taken a “turn about the room.”
The Great Gatsby
Alix finds herself at one point right in the middle of a glitzy Great Gatsby party in one of the Gold Coast mansions of Long Island, NY. Several of these Gold Coast estates can be visited today. Discover Long Island even provides a 3-day itinerary for exploring the historical opulent homes. And the Oheka Castle Hotel & Estate offers a seasonal Gold Coast Mansions “Gatsby” Package that includes optional 1920’s attire so you can experience living like The Great Gatsby for a night.
Bleak House
I don’t recommend skulking around the slums of London to feel like you’ve entered a Dickens novel like Bleak House. However, I do recommend visiting the Charles Dickens Museum, located in one of Dickens’ former homes. The Museum also has a nice tea room that will allow you to sit in the townhouses’ walled garden.
Though it’s not really London you’ll want to visit, it’s Broadstairs, a small coastal town about a two-hour train ride from London. There you’ll find a building once called Fort House that was renamed Bleak House because Dickens used to holiday there and it claims to be the inspiration for Bleak House. The building is now home to a new tea shop and gift/antique shop called Havisham & Cratchit. Broadstairs also hosts an annual Dickens Festival each June. This is when you’ll want to visit to feel like you’ve dropped into a Dickens book because of all the costumed characters you’ll see walking the streets.
Read more about visiting the Charles Dickens Museum
Treasure Island
Did you know that Robert Louis Stevenson had never been to the South Pacific when writing Treasure Island? He grew up in Edinburgh, Scotland and despised how much it rained, so he wrote himself an adventure in a warmer climate. You can learn this and more about him at the Writers’ Museum in Edinburgh.
Much later, Stevenson eventually moved to Western Samoa. His former house in Vailima is now a museum and he is buried at the top of Mount Vaea behind the residence. His grave bears an inscription of a poem which he wrote and includes the lines,
“Here he lies where he longed to be;
Home is the sailor, home from sea,”
If Treasure Island is your chosen destination and you make your way to Western Samoa via the Hispaniola, I hope you do not encounter The Black Spot!
The Three Musketeers
Alix and her companion jump into The Three Musketeers and find themselves in the middle of a Parisian Masked Ball. The masked ball takes place in the Hotel de Ville, but today that building holds the mayor’s office and other city government offices. However, you can still attend a masked ball! The Palace of Versailles holds an annual Masquerade Ball which requires all attendees to be in costume and remain masked throughout the event.
To further delve into the Three Musketeers, you can visit Alexandre Dumas’ castle of a home on the outskirts of Paris, the Chateau de Monte Cristo. In this museum you’ll learn about Dumas’ theater which he started in order to put on productions of his stories, including The Three Musketeers. And there’s a costume of a musketeer that was used in one of the theatrical productions!
So which Public Domain book are you jumping into?
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