| I enjoy visiting locations featured in Phyllis A. Whitney's books where her stories spring to life for me in new and exciting ways. I get to visit and learn about some incredible places, and also make some new friends along the way. Phyllis A. Whitney's fondness for San Francisco, the city in which The Trembling Hills is set, dates back to 1918 when she first arrived with her mother on an ocean liner bound from Japan, and the Bay Area would become her home for the next few years. In 1954, she decided to return to the city to research the setting of the 1906 earthquake before writing her book. To celebrate the Hodder Great Reads reissue of The Trembling Hills, I decided to take along my new copy of her book to use as a guide, and to see the area as she saw it, and as her characters would have seen it in 1906. I was not able to take in all of the sights, so I will need to plan another trip soon. In the meantime, whether you are planning a visit to San Francisco or you are just reading (or rereading) The Trembling Hills, you might also enjoy learning about some of the settings used in her book and seeing some of my photographs from my trip. Afterwards, you might also enjoy reading an article Phyllis wrote about her visit to San Francisco to research the setting for The Trembling Hills. -- Philip Tyo, Founder and Webmaster of The Official PHYLLIS A. WHITNEY Web site |