Bruges

OK, to kick things off...
I visited the lovely, atmospheric city of Bruges recently - but I foolishly spent only one night there. I will be going back, someday, but I want to read some books set there before then.

I have tried getting hold of Bruges-la-Morte by Georges Rodenbach for some time now, and after several abortive attempts through Amazon and Abebooks it seems I finally will receive it soon.

I am also considering Dorothy Dunnett's series about Niccolo Rising, which seems to revolve around the city in its golden age.

Any other suggestions? It might be enough for a while, I guess...

Alan Hollinghurst's The folding star is set in an unnamed Flemish city that seems to be based on Brugge. Not his best, but might be worth a look.

A.N. Wilson's novel about a Victorian architect, Who was Oswald Fish?, is set mostly in Birmingham, but has interludes in Brugge.

Yes, perhaps Hollinghurst's book is worth checking out.

Rodenbach apparently wrote another book set in Bruges as well, The Bells of Bruges. I don't know much about it, though.

Pamela Hansford Johnson wrote a comic novel, The Unspeakable Skipton, set in Bruges.

I would also recommend the short story "The Journal of J. P . Drapeau" by Thomas Ligotti, it reads like his response to Rodenbach's work.

I have recently seen the film 'In Bruges' with Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleason and Ralph Fiennes. Two English hitmen go into hiding in Bruges after a botched job in London. The older one loves the storybook city, the younger one thinks it's a shithole.

The movie is entertaining, and a bit of a treat when you've visited the town, but it is also quite violent in parts.