Feb 27, 2014
New York Times bestselling author Deanna Raybourn’s books have been set all over the globe, from Victorian London to the foothills of the Himalayas. Her latest, CITY OF JASMINE, takes place in the lush and mysterious streets of Damascus, where nothing is as it seems. Set during the 1920s, it’s about famed aviatrix Evie Starke, who is shocked to receive a recent photo of her dead husband, a clue she feverishly tracks --- with her eccentric Aunt Dove in tow --- to the ancient City of Jasmine.
In this interview with Bookreporter.com’s Amie Taylor, Raybourn talks about how she pulls off setting her books in such exotic locations, despite never having visited them --- including plenty of research (“armchair travel,” as she calls it) and spot-on sensory details. She also opens up about her predilection for writing about strong, independent women, having an inexplicably British writing voice, and why having taken a college seminar on mechanized warfare tactics in WWII was tedious but ultimately rewarding.