by Rosanna Ley
Is it perhaps the sense of history? Age can certainly give a landscape a vibe – Lyme Regis, Charmouth and the Jurassic Coast of Dorset have a sense of history which literally clings to the fossilized rocks, the cliffs and the beaches. Roman roads and ancient forts abound. In the novels of Thomas Hardy, Dorchester provides an artistic legacy too – of the writerly kind.
Visitors are equally inspired by the golden sandstone cliffs of West Bay – as recently featured in ITV’s crime drama Broadchurch. Following Broadchurch, visitors (known locally as ‘Broadies’!) have flocked to West Bay to see for themselves those amazing, towering honey-bricked cliffs.
Or is it perhaps the tranquillity of a natural landscape – be it coastal, woodland, upland or riverside – which appeals to the creative mind and feeds our desire to get back to nature and away from the noise, turmoil and stress of busy city life?
Sometimes, walking along the vastness of Chesil Beach, you feel solitary, humble, affected by Nature. It’s liberating.
Artists here in Dorset often talk about the quality of the light for painting. The rocks range from the orange sandstone of West Bay through to the Blue Lias of Lyme; where there is light there is always shadow.
As for Fuerteventura … There is a late-afternoon light that tints the landscape with a deep yellow and turns the sand (and blonde hair!) an unearthly golden green.
Whatever the personal response to landscape, it seems that this is a relationship and a dialogue between individual and place. Landscape brings out the creativity in us all. It encourages us to reflect, express ourselves and even to change our thinking.
Landscape might offer a glimpse of memory and the past – as it does for Ruby in my second novel when she first sees the turquoise lagoon in Fuerteventura, otherwise known as the ‘Bay of Secrets’, which became the book’s title. It might even offer a glimpse of the future.
I always felt I belonged to West Dorset. It’s my ‘soul home’. And I’m always happiest writing where there is a sea view. It may be in my local cafe in West Bay with the high bank of ginger pebbles and the waves right beside me, the harbour and the sandstone cliffs beyond. Or in Fuerteventura on the Playa de Castillo watching the surfers ride the wild waves. It might be a tranquil summer day or bleak mid-winter. The sea lets me dream – it does it for me every time.
Discover
ROSANNA LEY
‘Elegant storytelling at its best … the gentleness and authenticity of Rosamund Pilcher, with its strong sense of place, family and friendship. What a winning combination!’ Veronica Henry
When Tess Angel receives a solicitor’s letter inviting her to claim her inheritance – the Villa Sirena in Italy – she returns to her mother’s homeland, only to discover some long-buried family secrets.
Six months after her parents’ shocking death, journalist and jazz enthusiast Ruby Rae has finally found the strength to move on. But as she tries to do so, she unearths a truth her parents had kept from her all her life.
www.quercusbooks.co.uk