Conjuring the Cold

So the debate continues: can a writer be trusted to properly evoke a setting where she or he has never been? Marcel Berlins doesn’t think so. Writing in the Guardian, he wonders if an author can “be trusted to deliver the crucial human and emotional elements” if they “can't get the geographical and social background right.” Berlins says he would have been "more satisfied [with Stef Penney's The Tenderness of Wolves if she] had absorbed the atmosphere, the cold and the scenery at first hand." But could he really tell? He even states in his column that perhaps only some Canadian readers will notice minor discrepancies in Penney's descriptions.

My goodness, this issue is getting a lot of press. Note to self: when publishing first novel, admit to some affliction that has some sort of bearing on the creation of the novel, sit back and count the column inches.