Charleston at night

Jun 13

Walking at night is one of my husband’s and my favorite things to do when we travel. We’ve walked the haunting closes in Edinburgh, wandering through historic Philadelphia, and meandered alongside the Thames in London while the black water lapped at the bank below us. A place changes at night: It takes deep breaths, exhales in a way it can’t (or maybe doesn’t want to) during the day. There are mysteries revealed, light flickers in entirely different ways on the paths before you, and the quiet—oh, the quiet is glorious.

I’m in Charleston, South Carolina on book tour right now, for my Charleston-set novel, The Miniaturist’s Assistant. So, of course, we had to take the novel on a night-walk, to visit many of its settings.

We wandered Tradd Street (and past the inspiration of the 1700s house where Daniel, Honor, Effie, Ben, and Cooper live), down glorious Church Street (there is no other street like this in the United States), and stepped into the deep dark of Stoll’s Alley—where Gamble meets a “ghost,” and her adventure begins.