Around the World in 80 Books discussion

Post any books set in Italy here.

Books set in Italy: (This thread is currently under construction)


The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
The Leopard by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa
If on a Winter's Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino
Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco
The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli
A Thousand Days in Venice by Marlena De Blasi
The Shape of Water by Andrea Camilleri
The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio
The Baron in the Trees by Italo Calvino
Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes
Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
Angels & Demons by Dan Brown
The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant
A Room With a View by E.M. Forster
The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman
Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke
A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
The Agony and the Ecstasy by Irving Stone
The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare
Ciao Bella by Gina Buonaguro
Playing For Pizza by John Grisham
The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje
The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri
The City of Falling Angels by John Berendt
The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston
Juliet by Anne Fortier
In the Company of the Courtesan by Sarah Dunant
Galileo's Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith and Love by Dava Sobel
Pompeii by Robert Harris
The Last Days of Pompeii by Edward George Bulwer-Lytton
Death at La Fenice by Donna Leon (1st book of series set in Italy)
Bella Tuscany by Frances Mayes
Brunelleschi's Dome: How a Renaissance Genius Reinvented Architecture by Ross King
Sacred Hearts by Sarah Dunant
A Thread of Grace by Mary Doria Russell
I, Mona Lisa by Jeanne Kalogridis
The Borgia Bride by Jeanne Kalogridis
Lucrezia Borgia by Maria Bellonci
The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim
Where Angels Fear to Tread by E.M. Forster
Gomorrah by Roberto Saviano
A Thousand Days in Tuscany by Marlena De Blasi
The Second Duchess by Elizabeth Loupas
The Glassblower of Murano by Marina Fiorato
Christ Stopped at Eboli: The Story of a Year by Carlo Levi
The House Of Medici: Its Rise And Fall by Christopher Hibbert
Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare
I, Claudius by Robert Graves (1st book in series)
The Solitude of Prime Numbers by Paolo Giordano
Very Valentine by Adriana Trigiani
The Aeneid by Virgil
The Enchantress of Florence by Salman Rushdie
Italian Folktales by Italo Calvino
The Sixteen Pleasures by Robert Hellenga
I'm Not Scared by Niccolò Ammaniti
The Dark Heart of Italy by Tobias Jones
Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling by Ross King
Mistress of Rome by Kate Quinn
The Garden of the Finzi-Continis by Giorgio Bassani
The Passion of Artemisia by Susan Vreeland
Heat by Bill Buford
Poison by Sara Poole
Roma: The Novel of Ancient Rome by Steven Saylor
The Savage Garden by Mark Mills
The Book of Unholy Mischief by Elle Newmark
The Botticelli Secret by Marina Fiorato
The Rossetti Letter by Christi Phillips
The Night Villa by Carol Goodman
The Castle of Crossed Destinies by Italo Calvino
The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana by Umberto Eco
The First Man in Rome by Colleen McCullough
That Summer In Sicily by Marlena De Blasi
A Summer in Sicily by G.C. Dallas
Excursion to Tindari: An Inspector Montalbano Mystery by Andrea Camilleri
Lucrezia Borgia: Life, Love, and Death in Renaissance Italy by Sarah Bradford
Lucrezia Borgia: A Novel by John Faunce
The Scarlet Contessa: A Novel of the Italian Renaissance by Jeanne Kalogridis
Death in Venice by Thomas Mann
A History of Venice by John Julius Norwich
Murder of a Medici Princess by Caroline P. Murphy
Ratking by Michael Dibdin
La Bella Lingua: My Love Affair with Italian, the World's Most Enchanting Language by Dianne Hales
The Daughter of Siena by Marina Fiorato
Italian Neighbors: Or, a Lapsed Anglo-Saxon in Verona by Tim Parks
The Two Gentlemen of Verona by William Shakespeare
The Food of Love by Anthony Capella
La Bella Figura: A Field Guide to the Italian Mind by Beppe Severgnini
Baudolino by Umberto Eco
The Italians: A Full-Length Portrait Featuring Their Manners and Morals by Luigi Barzini
In Tuscany by Frances Mayes
Blameless by Gail Carriger
The Blind Contessa's New Machine by Carey Wallace
A Venetian Affair by Andrea Di Robilant
Bread and Wine by Ignazio Silone
An Italian Affair by Laura Fraser
The Lady in the Palazzo: At Home in Umbria by Marlena De Blasi
Zeno's Conscience by Italo Svevo
Daughters of Rome by Kate Quinn
The Talented Mr Ripley (Ripley, #1) by Patricia Highsmith
The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy by Jacob Burckhardt
A Soldier of the Great War by Mark Helprin

More books set in Italy:


1,000 Feelings for Which There Are No Names by Mario Giordano
100 Days of Happiness by Fausto Brizzi
100 Strokes of the Brush Before Bed by Melissa Panarello
1434: The Year a Magnificent Chinese Fleet Sailed to Italy and Ignited the Renaissance
1934 by Alberto Moravia
54 by Wu Ming
70% Acrylic 30% Wool by Viola Di Grado
Aaron's Rod by D.H. Lawrence
The Abruzzo Trilogy by Ignazio Silone
Accidental Death of an Anarchist by Dario Fo
According to Luke by Rosanne Dingli
Acquainted with Grief by Carlo Emilio Gadda
Across the River and into the Trees by Ernest Hemingway
The Adventures of a Cello by Carlos Prieto
The Advocate by Marcello Fois
The Affair by Gill Paul
After Hannibal by Barry Unsworth
After the Divorce by Grazia Deledda
After the War: A Collection of Short Fiction by Postwar Italian Women
The Age of Malaise by Dacia Maraini (aka The Age of Discontent)
Agostino by Alberto Moravia
The Alchemist's Code by Martin Rua
Aldabra, The Tortoise Who Loved Shakespeare by Silvana Gandolfi
The Alexiad by Anna Comnena
Alibi by Elsa Morante
Alibi by Joseph Kanon
All Our Yesterdays by Natalia Ginzburg
All the Errors by Giorgio Manganelli
All We Know of Love by Katie Schneider
The Almond Picker by Simonetta Agnello Hornby
Almost Blue by Carlo Lucarelli
Altai: A Novel by Wu Ming
Amalfi Coast by Maggie Way (2nd book in Entangle Me series)
Amandine by Marlena de Blasi
Aminta: A Pastoral Play by Torquato Tasso
Amorous Initiation: A Novel of Sacred and Profane Love by Oscar Miłosz
Ancient Cities: The History of Pompeii by Charles River Editors
Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of An Empire by Simon Baker
The Annals of Imperial Rome by Tacitus
Antonia and Her Daughters by Marlena De De Blasi
Antony and Cleopatra by William Shakespeare
Any Human Face by Charles Lambert
Appearances by Gianni Celati
The Apprentice by Pilar Molina Llorente
The Apprentice of Florence by Anne D. Kyle
Apricot Kisses by Claudia Winter
The Aquatic Labyrinth: A Venetian Mystery by Alastair Fontana
Ardor: A Novel of Enchantment by Lily Prior
The Art Of Falling by Deborah Lawrenson
The Art of Killing Well by Marco Malvaldi
The Art of Love by Ovid
The Art of Waiting by Christopher Jory
The Art of War by Niccolò Machiavelli
The Art Thief by Noah Charney
Artemisia by Alexandra Lapierre
Artemisia by Anna Banti
Arturo's Island by Elsa Morante
As a Man Grows Older by Italo Svevo
As God Commands by Niccolò Ammaniti
Ashes by Grazia Deledda
The Aspern Papers by Henry James
The Assassination of Julius Caesar: A People's History of Ancient Rome
Asterix and the Chariot Race by Jean-Yves Ferri (Asterix #37)
At Least You're in Tuscany: A Somewhat Disastrous Quest for the Sweet Life
At the End of a Dull Day by Massimo Carlotto
Augustus by John Williams
Augustus: First Emperor of Rome by Adrian Goldsworthy
Augustus: Son of Rome by Richard Foreman (1st book in Augustus series)
Augustus: The Life of Rome's First Emperor by Anthony Everitt
Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions by Mario Giordano
The Autobiography Of Benvenuto Cellini by Benvenuto Cellini
Bagheria by Dacia Maraini
Bandit Love by Massimo Carlotto
Bar Sport by Stefano Benni
Bartering Her Innocence by Trish Morey
The Bastards of Pizzofalcone by Maurizio de Giovanni
The Bay of Foxes by Sheila Kohler
The Bears' Famous Invasion of Sicily by Dino Buzzati
Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter
Bebo's Girl by Carlo Cassola
Behind the Door by Giorgio Bassani
Bella Italia by Suzanne Vermeer
Bellarion by Rafael Sabatini
The Bellini Card by Jason Goodwin (3rd book in Yashim the Eunuch series)
The Bellini Madonna: A Novel by Elizabeth Lowry
Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark T. Sullivan
Betrayal by Giorgio Scerbanenco
The Betrothed by Alessandro Manzoni
Bianca by Bertrice Small (1st book in The Silk Merchant's Daughters series)
The Bill: For Palma Vecchio, at Venice by László Krasznahorkai
Bitter Almonds: Recollections and Recipes from a Sicilian Girlhood
Bitter Greens by Kate Forsyth
Bitter Honeymoon and Other Stories by Alberto Moravia
Black Mountain by Venero Armanno
Black Run by Antonio Manzini (1st Rocco Schiavone Mystery)
Blackmailed Bride, Inexperienced Wife by Annie West
Blackout by Gianluca Morozzi
Blind Argus or the Fables of the Memory by Gesualdo Bufalino
Blood and Beauty: The Borgias by Sarah Dunant
Blood Curse: The Springtime of Commissario Ricciardi by Maurizio de Giovanni

More books set in Italy


Blood Fever by Charlie Higson (2nd book in Young Bond series)
The Blood Gospel by James Rollins (1st book in The Order of the Sanguines)
Blood Washes Blood: A True Story of Love, Murder, and Redemption Under the Sicilian Sun
Blood, Bones, and Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef
Bloodlines by Marcello Fois
Blue Mauritius by Karin Jones
The Book of Hidden Things by Francesco Dimitri
The Book of Human Skin by Michelle Lovric
The Book of Madness and Cures by Regina O'Melveny
A Book of Secrets: Illegitimate Daughters, Absent Fathers by Michael Holroyd
The Book of the Courtier by Baldassare Castiglione
Borgia: Blood for the Pope (1st book in Borgia series)
The Borgias by Alexandre Dumas
The Borgias by Jean Plaidy
The Borgias: The Hidden History by G.J. Meyer
Born Twice by Giuseppe Pontiggia
The Boy Who Was by Grace T. Hallock
The Break by Pietro Grossi
The Breaking of a Wave by Fabio Genovesi
The Brewer of Preston by Andrea Camilleri
A Noiva de Messina by Friedrich Schiller
By My Hand by Maurizio de Giovanni
By the Olive Groves: A Calabrian Childhood by Grazia Letto Gillies

The Shape of Water by Andrea Camilleri

Ciao Bella by Gina Buonaguro

That Awful Mess On The Via Merulana by Carlo Emilio Gadda

Boredom by Alberto Moravia

The Time of Indifference by Alberto Moravia

The Conformist by Alberto Moravia

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The Ancient Shore: Dispatches from Naples by Shirley Hazzard
The Bay of Noon by Shirley Hazzard
The Volcano Lover: A Romance by Susan Sontag

Marianne wrote: "My father's family comes from Basilicata. A good read on this section of Italy is Seasons in Basilicata: A Year i..."


Do you read also in Italian?
Perhaps you may be interested in books about Basilicata like:
In viaggio con zio Lorenzo by Terenzio Bove
Il sangue del Sud. Antistoria del Risorgimento e del brigantaggio by Giordano Bruno Guerri
Come divenni brigante by Carmine Crocco (a very famous brigant from Basilicata who fought against the unification of Italy).

If I will remember other books set in Basilicata I will tell you (if you want).

Marianne wrote: "Dely-- Sadly I neither read nor speak Italian ( a story in itself ). But thanks for the recommends. Sometimes I can follow along with computer translators :)

I am intetested in any books on Basili..."

I really feel so little Italian in these moments because I don't read Italian literature :/

For Sicily you could give a try to Andrea Camilleri but I am sure you already know him.
For Naples you could try Pina Varriale but her only book who was translated is All but one.
If you try to read "In viaggio con zio Lorenzo" in Italian I am sure you will like it much more than I did. It talks about a trip in Val d'Agri (Potenza) and in the book there are also a couple of recipes.

From the Land of the Moon by Milena Agus

didn't see this listed, forgive me if I missed it

I've just finished Amour de ma vie by Guy des Cars. It is set in Italy( Roma, Milan, Rapallo) and I really liked it

"the linen god" (Jim O'Shea/Wayside Press)

Three grisly murders thrust best friends Grace Barden and Manny Lusum into a generations-old conspiracy of biblical proportions. From New York to Rome to the inner sanctum of the Vatican, Manny and Grace untangle a bizarre mystery surrounding the controversial Shroud of Turin. Their discovery could alter the course of human history—if they live to tell it.

To see a sample chapter of this new thriller, and/or add "the linen god" to your "Want to read list", visit

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

I was wondering if maybe these were for Italy: |The Shoemaker's Wife and Beautiful Ruins

Uri Norwich
Hi everyone,
I came to this group at someone’s suggestion at another forum I participate at Goodreads, thinking that I could introduce some unusual angle to your discussions.
Although my new novel “Russian Jews Don’t Cry” is not a travel book, don’t be fooled by its title. I was torn at the beginning where to put this thread, and finally decided that it would rightfully belong to two places: “Books Set In Europe – Italy” and “In Russia.”
The story is written as told by a young man in his twenties bouncing as a loose boat around the world, trying to find his place in it. He hits the biggest jackpot of his life and lets it go away so easy.
The events are taking place in mid-70s-80s when the United States managed to trade hundreds of thousands of Soviet Jews for grain. The road to the “promised land” was laid out for them through Italy. It wasn’t a simple coincident or luck. Half of the book (688 pages) takes place in Italy. However, the protagonist is undergoing through many transformations on the way, influenced by events and places surrounding him. And yet, his own memories and his family's past in Russia constantly intertwine with reality.
I had lived in Italy for four years and speak decent Italian and Russian. That helped me to get deep into describing many places and people which protagonist encounters on his journey, working as a tour guide for a while too. If you’d like to discover untraveled corners of Italy and Russia, and get on the way some taste of Israel, Turkey, China and Japan, it might be worth your time to explore this book.
Respectfully, Uri Norwich

Emmaus by Alessandro Baricco - a wonderful book about growing up in a small Italian village.

The Scarlet City by Hella S. Haasse - historical fiction set in 16th century Italy and the Vatican.

My Venice and Other Essays by Donna Leon

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The Serpent of Venice by Christopher Moore
Chasing the Rose: An Adventure in the Venetian Countryside by Andrea Di Robilant
Curses and Smoke: A Novel of Pompeii by Vicky Alvear Shecter
The Venetian Contract by Marina Fiorato
The Medici Boy by John L'Heureux
Under the Southern Sun: Stories of the Real Italy and the Americans It Created by Paul Paolicelli
The Other Story by Tatiana de Rosnay

The Shepherdess of Siena by Linda Lafferty

The Edge Of The Horizon by Antonio Tabucchi

Last Comes the Raven by Italo Calvino

Journey by MoonlightbyAntal Szerb

The Visitant: A Venetian Ghost Story by Megan Chance

Collective Mind by Vasily Klyukin (Sicily)

Ruby and the Ghost Dog
This new children's book is set in Tuscany and is inspired by my rescue English Setter, my time volunteering in a dog shelter and my 22 years living in Italy. Happy to answer any questions :))

Rosalia's Bittersweet Pastry Shop by Rosanna Chiofalo

The Ornatrix: A Novel by Kate Howard

Living in Italy: the Real Deal - How to survive the good life

The Twenty Days of Turin by Giorgio De Maria

The Confessions of Young Nero by Margaret George

My Italian Bulldozer by Alexander McCall Smith

In the Name of the Family by Sarah Dunant

The Revolution of the Moon by Andrea Camilleri

Ties by Domenico Starnone

Feast of Sorrow: A Novel of Ancient Rome by Crystal King

The Scribe of Siena by Melodie Winawer

Ernesto by Umberto Saba

Catarina the Wise and Other Wondrous Sicilian Folk and Fairy Tales by Giuseppe Pitre`

The Sacco Gang by Andrea Camilleri

We'll Sleep When We're Old: A Novel by Pino Corrias

The Lion and the Rose by Riccardo Bruni

Malacqua by Nicola Pugliese

The Temptation to Be Happy by Lorenzo Marone

The Apothecary's Shop: Venice 1118 A.D. by Roberto Tiraboschi

Ferocity by Nicola Lagioia

The Communist by Guido Morselli

Happy to announce that my book Living in Italy has won a bronze at the Readers Favorite Awards! Check it out at bit.ly/live-italy
Stef Smulders

Diane wrote: " Ferocity by Nicola Lagioia"

Currently there is a giveaway for this book. Just click.

Fiction:

The Parrots by Filippo Bologna

Non Fiction:

The Land Where Lemons Grow: The Story of Italy and its Citrus Fruit by Helena Attlee

Travel narrative:

Sicily, It's Not Quite Tuscany by Shamus Sillar

Incontinent on the Continent: My Mother, Her Walker, and Our Grand Tour of Italy by Jane Christmas