Book club debate got derailed last night over a map mistake in the book

We were discussing that new historical novel set in 1840s Oregon Trail times, and I noticed the author had the characters crossing the Snake River way too far east. I pulled out my old waterproof map from when I did landscaping out in Idaho, and sure enough the geography was off by about 60 miles. Half the group thought I was nitpicking, the other half agreed it broke the immersion. Has anyone else had a book ruined for them because the author messed up a basic location detail?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_sam2mo ago

Seems like half your book club needs to retake geography, @lee627. Maybe they think 60 miles is just "creative spacing" or something. Guess the Snake River's location is optional when the plot demands it.

the_daniel20d ago

60 miles off is like someone telling me the Statue of Liberty is in New Jersey. @lee627 has a point though - if the book is marketed as historical fiction, that's just lazy. I'd be pissed if I bought a "historically accurate" novel and the author couldn't be bothered to open Google Maps. Your book club probably just didn't want to deal with it. Maybe they all work at the DMV and have low expectations for accuracy.

lee6272mo ago

60 miles off is a pretty big swing on a map, especially for a book that's supposed to be historical. Did the rest of the group just not care about the research, or were they saying it didn't matter because it's fiction?