Edinburgh is a city built for writers. There’s something about the way the Old Town stacks itself vertically — layers of history pressing down on layers of story — that makes narrative feel not just possible but inevitable.
I lived in Edinburgh for the first eighteen years of my life and returned for three years while writing Salt and Bone. Here are the places that shaped my writing life in the city.
The Vennel Steps at the Grassmarket offer one of the most dramatic views in the city. You climb these narrow stone steps and suddenly the castle appears above you, impossibly close, framed by old tenement walls. I set a pivotal scene from The Cartographer’s Daughter here.
For quiet writing mornings, I can’t recommend Söderberg bakery on Broughton Street highly enough. Their cardamom buns are transcendent, the coffee is strong, and there’s a window seat in the back that gets the most beautiful morning light.