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?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_sam1mo 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.

lee6271mo 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?