Top Ten Books Set Outside the U.S.

This is perfect, since I'm about to be traveling out of the country!

1. North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell


Set primarily in Milton, a fictional city in Derbyshire County in the north of England. Also some appearances in London and a small village in the south of England.





2. Empress Orchid by Anchee Min


Set in late-nineteenth century imperial China, primarily in the Forbidden City.







3. The Betrothed by Alessandro Manzoni


Set in 1600s Italy; the protagonists travel to a variety of states and cities, though the story starts and centers on their small village.







4. The Lost Girls by Jennifer Baggett, Holly C. Corbett, and Amanda Pressner


Set primarily in contemporary South America, Kenya, India, and Australia/New Zealand.






5. The Sweet Life in Paris by David Lebovitz


Set (surprise!) in modern-day Paris. I've read it a few times, and it makes me laugh aloud every time.






6. The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon


Set in a (barely) post-Franco Barcelona. I also highly recommend the prequel, The Angel's Game, and sequel, The Prisoner of Heaven.







7. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy


Set in nineteenth-century Russia, primarily in Moscow and St. Petersburg. I also highly recommend Resurrection, a different story but same time and place.






8. House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende


Set in an unnamed South American country. I also recommend Daughter of Fortune, set in Chile and then California.






9. The Creation of Eve by Lynn Cullen


Set in late-sixteenth-century Spain, primarily Madrid; also, a little bit of Italy, including Florence, in the same time period.







10. Vienna Nocturne by Vivien Shotwell


Set in eighteenth-century Vienna, and a few other locations in Austria and England.