Author of Granite Harbor · The Rocks · Voyage for Madmen & other books

Although I’m American, I was brought up in England and Europe, and I prefer living in Europe, but I currently live in the United States to be close to my son. I like Maine and have chosen to live here because it seems to me a throwback version of the US, not overrun with strip malls and box stores and the rest of the visual crud of the USA. It’s less spoiled; the modern world seems farther away. Where I live, in Camden on the coast of Maine, it’s postcard pretty, has a still working seafaring industry, an aquaculture industry that is thriving because of the pressures on wild seafood, a farm-to-table culinary scene, all of which is very authentic, self-sustaining, yet feels like an earlier time. I like Maine also because it’s comparatively undeveloped, with large unspoiled natural areas—it’s kind of the Auvergne of the USA—a lot of hiking, sailing, kayaking—which I love to do—available here. I also have a motorcycle, and Maine is a paradise of small roads weaving through beautiful country, thought the winter is long here so the riding season is limited.