The Cities Behind My Next Two Novels

I’ve been hard at work on two novels this year: City of Diamonds, set in Antwerp and due out in 2027, and my current work-in-progress, set in Berlin, which is planned for 2028.

People often ask how I keep the settings of each book alive in my mind while writing. When I visit the cities where my novels are set, I take lots of photographs and display them around my desk. I also change my computer screensaver and background, so I’m constantly immersed in the world I’m creating.

Paintings help too.  A postcard of a painting by Max Liebermann (1847–1935), for example, conjures the atmosphere of his villa on the shores of Wannsee and provides an instant shortcut back to my memories of that place. I visited in the winter when the garden was covered in snow and the lake was frozen over. This lush, vivid painting allows me to imagine what the setting looks like when the snow has melted away and the colours have returned.

I find maps invaluable as well, both those that represent the city as it is now, and those from the past. For example, I used a pre-1940s map of Antwerp to plot key locations in the story, as my characters would have been unlikely to have access to a recent civilian map of the city after the German invasion and occupation of Belgium. I also love perusing street maps in guide books when I visit a city to get a feel for the modern setting.

In some ways, the cities become characters in their own right. Antwerp and Berlin are very different places, with very different histories and atmospheres. I want the reader to feel the unique character and era of each city as soon as they turn the first page.

As a result, my writing desk becomes a kind of miniature version of each city. Photographs, paintings and maps and guidebooks all help me to step back into the world of the novel whenever I sit down in my study. That's how I can keep the places alive in my mind while I’m writing, even when I’m hundreds of miles away.