The Next Best Book Club discussion

Since I will be visiting this summer, I would love to catch up on historical fiction based in Italy. I thought this would be a great place to find a few recommendations. Thanks!!!

Hmm... I don't know of many books set in Italy. The only one that I can think of right now is I Know This Much Is True, and that is only a part of the book relating to the main characters grandfather's history. But it is very interesting!

Good luck!

Wow!! Enjoy your trip!! What cities will you visit? (I live in Rome.)

There is the Colleen McCullagh series which starts with The First Man in Rome about ancient Rome. I haven't read it yet, but it comes highly recommended from many here at TNBBC.

The Sixteen Pleasures A Novel takes place in Florence after the Arno flood of '64 ('62? '65?) which I liked. I haven't read Hellenga's other book The Fall of a Sparrow A Novel which deals with the aftermath of the bombing of the Bologna train station in 1980.

There's The Stones of Florence and Venice Observed by Mary McCarthy.

And my brain has drawn a blank. If I think of more I will let you know!

EDIT: The Leopard which takes place in Sicily and talks about the the changes in Sicilian life and society during the Risorgimento (Unification of Italy, 19th c., there's a great film with Lancaster, Cardinale and Delon).

Not a novel, but there's always Eat, Pray, Love One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia. You could read the first section about Italy, which I thought was the best part.

Thanks Becky for the recommendation. I actually have that book and didn't know there was reference to Italy. I must check it out!

Thank you for all the recommendations, Hayes. I did hear the First Man in Rome was good and do have it on my list. The other books I will check out. THank you so much! By the way, I'll be visiting Rome, Florence and Venice so any books related to these cities are greatly appreciated...I'm actually intrigued by the Medicis so would love a good historical fiction about them...I can't wait!!! I am so excited...

For Florence I would recommend Brunelleschi's Dome How a Renaissance Genius Reinvented Architecture by Ross King. It is actually non-fiction but reads like fiction. King has written a number of other books about Italy but this is the only one I've read.


The Birth of Venus A Novel and The Passion of Artemisia are fiction but also very good.

Cheryl, check out The Secret Book of Grazia dei Rossi. I would recommend it.
I'd also recommend The Passion of Artemisia by Susan Vreeland.

Hayes wrote: "Wow!! Enjoy your trip!! What cities will you visit? (I live in Rome.)

There is the Colleen McCullagh series which starts with The First Man in Rome about ancient Rome. I haven't read..."

Hayes, you wre almost there..:-) the flood was in '66.
I read The Fall of a Sparrow A Noveland it is kind of difficult to say if I liked ir or what. I think because I am jsut obsessed with Italy that I actually liked it but still the book was weird. Most of the beginning also isn't about or in Italy at all.

I should be able to write a whole lsit here of books, ebcause in Belgium I do have bookshelves only for my Italy related books....but I lawyas find it very hard to come up with them just like that.

Which month are you going? I am leaving in 18 days and then again for a wedding end August. I haven't been since I left the 19th of November and it has just been too long!

Definitely recommend the Colleen McCullough.

I personally did not find The Birth of Venus A Novel all that and a bag of chips, but many others have liked it. It's set in Renaissance Florence.

If you like mysteries I would recommend Donna Leon (Venice), Andrea Camilleri (Sicily), and Michael Dibdin (all of Italy).


A Thread of Grace is about Italy near the end of WWII.

I'm not a big historical fiction person but my sister leant me "In the Company of the Courtesan" which was pretty good and centred in Venice.

Mel

Donna wrote: "If you like mysteries I would recommend Donna Leon (Venice), Andrea Camilleri (Sicily), and Michael Dibdin (all of Italy).


A Thread of Grace is about Italy near the end of WWII."

The Donna Leon mysteries are very good, light and nice reads. I love it when some streets or ways he goes through Venice, I remember!

Umberto Eco writes incredible historical fiction based in Italy, though his books are not exactly light fare. :)

And I don't like them much, I confess. Name of the Rose was good, but I tended to skip the chapters with the "Philosophizing" to get the the chapters with the story. Foucoult's Pendulum was okay too, but not light as you say.

The Island of the Day Before was painful to me. It wasn't a book, it was a shopping list: "And on the boat were apples, guavas, papayas... and there were also cutlasses, windlasses, winches..." I think he opened the thesaurus and copied out everything he could find to get the page number up!

I haven't read Baudolino, have you?

Hayes wrote: "And I don't like them much, I confess. Name of the Rose was good, but I tended to skip the chapters with the "Philosophizing" to get the the chapters with the story. Foucoult's Pendulum was okay to..."

I felt the same way about Island of the Day Before and honestly I probably didn't understand it completely anyway.

Name of the Rose especially is great as far as historical Italy goes. I really liked Foucault's Pendulum but it's certainly not for everyone; I prefer it to trying to sit down to read The Da Vinci Code which I find impossible to even get into.

My boyfriend had Baudolino on audio tape for a while, but I have difficulty listening to audio books so I missed most of it. He seemed to like it, but I'll need to sit down with it personally.

While not exactly "historical fiction" these books, written by Italian authors, all seem to be set in Italy at a particular time/place.

I'm Not Scared
To Each His Own
The Garden of the Finzi-Continis
The Ragazzi
The Moon and the Bonfire

The Masters of Rome series by Colleen McCullough is one of my all time favorites, so like a lot of people, I highly suggest those.

Also, most of E M Forster take place, at least partly, in Italy. It's Victorian Italy, but still beautiful.

Controversial, but Angels & Demons and The Da Vinci Code take place there and have the added bonus of art and religious lessons! (taken with a grain of salt)

Wow...thanks for all the great recommendations, everyone! I've actually received The First Man in Rome yesterday in the mail (love bookmooch) and have started it already.

Nothing like reading up on history and then actually visiting places that I've read about...Thank you all again!