The Inn of Literary Lovahs

You've all doubtless already read about Nora Roberts' Inn Boonsboro, at which each guest room is decorated to evoke a famous pair of literary paramours. It's got my personal faves Lizzy and Darcy and Jane and Rochester (but no hints of Wickham, Caroline Bingley, St. John Rivers or psycho-Bertha to spoil the mood). There's also a Titania and Oberon room and then the famous lover quotient drops down a bit to a few slightly less iconic pairs. Why must it be so?

"The whole idea was the rooms' themes had to be linked to literary couples who ended up with happy endings," says Roberts, who says she was challenged to find enough couples to fill the bill. "Romeo and Juliet? Dead. Tristan and Isolde? Dead. Not happy. Dead, dead, dead. Rhett Butler and Scarlett? He didn't give a damn. You try finding seven of them."

But Roberts did find enough lovestruck couples to inspire guest rooms whose decor is informed by the time periods in which their stories are told.

Hilarious, no? Anyway, go check out the Inn BoonsBoro. It's too bad the place is in Maryland. I think Anita Shreve should buy out one of the stately New England Houses she's always writing about and turn THAT into a literary vacation spot.