Essential Reading List - Great Books About or Set in Italy

Go to slowtrav.com for a good list.

The Agony and the Ecstacy, Irving Stone. Really gets you inside Michaelangelo's mind.

DM,

On a similar thread, Bookchick recommended "Artemisia" by Alexandra Lapierre set in Rome. Haven't read it yet, but it's on my list.

There's a long thread here about books set in Venice. One that I recently read from that list was Marlena De Blasi's "A Thousand Days in Venice"-an autobiographical account of her meeting a Venetian man & moving to Venice to marry him. Besides being entertaining, it gives insight into Venetian attitudes (or at least her perspective of Venetian attitudes). It also mentions lots of specific food related places (she's a chef/food writer) you might want to visit. It's a quick read.

Have a great trip!

If you enjoy non-fiction as I do, I'll suggest a recent release: "Francis of Asissi: A Revolutionary Life"

In the pricess of discussing his life and the genesis of the Franciscan Friars, there's a wealth of information about the region surrounding Perugia, Umbria and beyond. Fascinating dissection of the political, economic and class issue that affected life at the time and best of all.... many of the referenced sites can still be seen and visited.

The Leopard, by Giuseppe di Lampedusa, is considered by some people to be the greatest Italian novel of the 20th century. The author was a Sicilian prince, and the hero of the novel (which takes place in the 1860's) was supposedly based on his great-grandfather. The book was turned into a movie with Burt Lancaster.

The Garden of the Finzi-Continis by Giorgio Bassani. This novel is about a rich Jewish family in Ferrara on the eve of WWII.

My two trips to Mother Italy resulted in two lengthy accounts...the first is posted (in part) at:
http://www.electric-italy.com/123intro.html

I'd be very interested in your response to that, if you decide to take a look. And if you do like what you encounter there, I can forward the remainder of the text - it gets more interesting.

traveljack.net

The author of Brunelleschi's Dome just wrote another book, Michelangelo and the Pope;s Ceiling about the painting and politics of the Sistine Chapel and Rome during that era. The Miracle of Santo Fico is a sweet novel set in Tuscany. I also enjoyed the mysteries set in Venice by Edward Sklepowich, An Italian Affair by Laura Fraser A Thousand Days in Venice, and Postcards from Europe by Rick Steves. There is a good thread on his website graffiti wall for more book ideas.

Death in Venice, by Thomas Mann.

"The Geometry of Love" by Margaret Visser is an excellent, poetic, lyrical, fact-filled introduction to why churches look the way they do.

Absolutely fascinating,and you will feel so knowledgable every time you look at anything in a church, cathedral, basilica or chapel for evermore!

I will check into each one of these suggestions. Thank you so much.

Please keep this thread alive. One can never have too many books.

DM

Traveljack,

You are an inspiration--I've only just clicked on your site, and can tell you I will read every word. I have thought of putting my experiences with my pictures, but have not gotten to it yet. Please let me know how to access the rest of your journal. Thank you so much for sharing!

Ever so true, one can never have too many books!

"The Merchant of Prato" gives a very interesting insight into what made one man a successful businessman in Tuscany in the late 14th-early 15th century.

"Vaporetto 13" may be out of print now, but you can probably still obtain a copy through an out-of-print book service. Very intriguing, IMO.

The Lapierre book I read was fascinating, and has already been mentioned in this thread, thanks to mclaurie.

For a series of great & fun short stories set in another century, try "The Decameron". These are all short stories based on different facets of love, and are quite entertaining.

Some may find it not at all their cup of tea, but a large portion of "Hannibal", by Thomas Harris, immortalizing that villian we love to hate (or hate to love?), Dr. Lecter, takes place in Florence.

"Under the Tuscan Sun", of course, is now a well-recognized and widely-read book, among those of us who are Italophiles.

Buon Leggere,
BC

"The Italians" by Luigi Barzini
"Pasquale's Nose" by ??
"Little World of Don Camillo" by Guareschi

"The Roman Way" by Edith Hamilton

Galileo's Daughter, by Dava Sobel

Dog_Mother,

Thank you so much for the kind comment - a labor of love is no labor at all. I still well up when I ponder that trip - and the second trip, too! I had to wonder if I was (and still am) over-reacting to my first international jaunt, as it had such a well-defined purpose. But it was at that certain moment when I went from fascinated observer to passionate participant that I really felt as though I'd been pried open....you'll read that, and hopefully feel a touch of the moment.
If you contact me by direct email, I'd be glad to forward the balance of the story, in text-only version - it's too large with photos inserted. Of course, if a publisher would just come along...

My regular ol' website is:

www.traveljack.net

and has a contact link, along with other links to my other sites. I'm always happy to share. I'm going to Dominican Republic next week, and if I see your request before end of day Monday I'll send it right out. Thanks again,

traveljack

I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Italians by Luigi Barzini.

I have a friend who grew up in Milan, but lives in New York now. I described to her some of the characteristics of Italians, according to Barzini, and she thoroughly agreed with him--and she found it so interesting because she had never consciously thought about Italians in the way he described, much less the reasons behind their ways of being/thinking/acting.

We have read just about everything Tim Parks has written. He's from the UK, but married an Italian and lives in Italy, outside of Verona. (He teaches at the University in Verona). His nonfiction books are mostly about family life: _Italian Neighbors_ and _Italian Education_. There's also one about following one of the local soccer teams. And he has written some fairly interesting fiction, as well.

"Extra Virgin" is a wonderful book written by a young british girl settling down in Italy. Somebody on this forum recommended this book, maybe this thread is still hiding somewhere?

I've got a kind of Italy book fetish, so this thread is great. These are my favorites:

Italian Hours (Henry James)
Italian Days (Barbara Grizzuti Harrison)
Twilight in Italy, Sea & Sardinia and Etruscan Places (D.H. Lawrence)
A Traveler in Italy (H.V. Morton)
The City of Florence (R.W.B. Lewis)
Venice Observed, Stones of Florence (Mary McCarthy)

Reading back over this, I see it seems I mostly read old stuff, but it's not true. I read the new stuff too, but find much of it very overrated. It seems every week somebody else writes a book about Italy. Not all of them are very good.

Traveljack,
Oh, please, can't we find a way for you to provide the text plus pictures version? I love the way you have combined the two.
Dog Mother

ttt

Looking for a work of fiction featuring Italy (preferably Rome) that is a relatively light read.

I highly recommend "See Naples," by Douglas Allanbrook, a memoir of his experience in Italy during the war and after -- lyrical and haunting.

I like Paul Hofmann's books, especially "The Seasons of Rome: A Journal."

For those with an interest in architecture, another wonderful book about Rome is "An Architect's Rome" by John M. McGuire. Jr. McGuire writes exceptionally well and also has many delightful pen-and-ink drawings. It was in his book that I read about Rome's "street of dueling churches", with one small church done by Bernini, and the other by his rival, Borromini. (Can't recall the street name offhand, but it's the one which runs parallel to the Quirinale Palace.)

I recently finished "Venetian Dreaming" by Paul Weideger. It was discussed here before and a lot of people seemed to dislike it, but I really enjoyed it.

Traveler 212,

Here's a url that lists a wide variety of books in Italy, most already mentioned on this thread.

http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/book/memoirs.htm

Interestingly, in doing a web search there are TONS of novels that take place in ancient Rome, but not many in modern Rome.

My favorite "light" reads have been based in Venice (where I was going) and already mentioned on this thread

"Mrs. Garnet's Angel", the Sklepowich mysteries and the Dibdin mysteries.

The Donna Leon mystery novel series featuring her detective, Guido Brunetti, and set in Venice (you can find them used on amazon.com)

Extra Virgin by Annie Hawes

Dances with Luigi (A real favorite, about an American taking a period of time off to discover some information about his Italian grandparents - very sensitively written. I preferred it to Pasquale's Nose, hands down!)

Anything by Iris Origo

Vanilla Beans & Brodo by Isabella Dusi (nonfiction memoir, set in Montalcino)

I love mysteries and usually read ones set in the place I'm visiting.
The Donna Leon series set in modern Venice previously mentioned is a favorite.
Another mystery series, Michael Dibdin's Aurelio Zen series, is set all over modern Italy--"Cabal" is set in Rome.
Dan Brown's "Angels and Demons" is a fast-paced suspense novel set in modern Rome--physics, Vatican politics, art history all rolled up in a fantastical adventure.
Steven Saylor writes a great historical mystery series set in ancient Rome.

Can anyone jog my memory?
I'm trying to recall the title and author of a book I read in 2000. It was set in Florence shortly after the 1966 flood.
It followed a young American woman's love affair with an older man, and involved the finding of a book of twelve or thirteen pornographic drawings and poems in a convent.
Does anyone remember this one?

Lots of stuff on Tuscany (we know that's romantic), Rome, Sicily, but what about Naples / Amalfi Coast / Capri?

Hi Kvick:
I think you are referring to "The Sixteen Pleasures: A Novel", by Robert Hellenga. Haven't read it yet but its on my wish list!

Ditto...Marlena de Blasci's book "1000 Days in Venice. Very interesting read.

I cannot remember the author of "La Cucina" - fiction, but beautifully written - Sicily based, some Mafia involvement, and an ode to cooking. Really worth the reading!

La Cucina, as an ode to cooking? I rather thought of it as an ode to something else!

It's by Lily Prior. A really fun book.

Did anyone mention Dances with Luigi?

LindaS, thank you very much. Not being able to remember "The Sixteen Pleasures" would have gnawed at me for weeks.

I took La Cucina on vacation to Lake Tahoe several years ago. Definitly an Ode to what you can do on the kitchen table!!! My mother was along with us on vacation. I was embarrassed to even read the book with her in the room!! I was hoping she wouldn't pick it up.

Two of my favorite books set in Italy are Serenissima by Erica Jong and Disturbance of the Inner Ear by Joyce Hackett. The Hackett book is current and the Jong book was written several years ago and I believe is out of print, but if you can get a used copy or one from the library, it's well worth it.

If you love mysteries: "The Name of the Rose."

Don't forget Edith Wharton's "Italian Villas and their Gardens."

The characters in many Henry James novels tend to spend significant time hanging around in Italy (which represents love and freedom usually) before they return to the more repressive climes of England or the U.S.

And don't forget E.M. Forster's "A Room with a View".

But, while "A Death in Venice" is certainly set in Italy, it is a very sad book and possibly not what you want to peruse while on vacation.

I know you're looking for literature, but you may also think about taking some time before you go and watching Katherine Hepburn in "Summertime" or taking in Fellini's "Roma."

Another thought -- why not go back to the real Italian masterpieces? Machiavelli's 'The Prince', Dante, Catullus, Virgil or Caesar's "The Civil Wars"?

Here's a compilation of the above:
A Room with a View, by E.M. Forster
A Thousand Days in Venice, by Marlena De Blasi –
Francis of Asissi: A Revolutionary Life.
A Traveler in Italy (H.V. Morton)
An Architect’s Rome by John M. McGuire, Jr.
An Italian Affair by Laura Fraser
Angels and Demons by Dan Brown
Artemisia by Alexandra Lapierre set in Rome.
Aurelio Zen mystery series by Michael Dibdin
Books by Iris Origo
Dances with Luigi
Death in Venice, by Thomas Mann.
Disturbance of the Inner Ear by Joyce Hackett.
Etruscan Places (D.H. Lawrence)
Extra Virgin by Annie Hawes.
Galileo's Daughter, by Dava Sobel
Italian Days (Barbara Grizzuti Harrison)
Twilight in Italy, D.H. Lawrence
Italian Education, Tim Parks
Italian Hours (Henry James)
Italian Neighbors, Tim Parks
Italian Villas and their Gardens, by Edith Wharton
La Cucina by Lily Prior
Little World of Don Camillo by Guareschi
Michelangelo and the Pope’s Ceiling, by Ross King
Mrs. Garnet's Angel
Mysteries set in Venice by Edward Sklepowich,
Pasquale's Nose
Postcards from Europe by Rick Steves
Sea & Sardinia, D.H. Lawrence
See Naples, by Douglas Allanbrook
Serenissima by Erica Jong.
Steven Saylor writes a great historical mystery series set in ancient Rome.
Stones of Florence (Mary McCarthy)
The Agony and the Ecstasy, Irving Stone
The City of Florence (R.W.B. Lewis)
The Collected Traveler: Central Italy Tuscany and Umbria.
The Decameron
The Donna Leon mystery novel series featuring her detective, Guido Brunetti, and set in Venice.
The Garden of the Finzi-Continis by Giorgio Bassani.
The Geometry of Love,by Margaret Visser
The Italians by Luigi Barzini
The Leopard, by Giuseppe di Lampedusa
The Merchant of Prato
The Miracle of Santo Fico
The Name of the Rose.
The Roman Way by Edith Hamilton
The Seasons of Rome: A Journal. By Paul Hofmann
The Sixteen Pleasures: A Novel, by Robert Hellenga.
Under the Tuscan Sun
Vanilla Beans & Brodo by Isabella Dusi
Vaporetto 13
Venetian Dreaming by Paul Weideger
Venice Observed, Mary McCarthy

You definitely need to add Deeply Rooted by Ginda Simpson. A personal memoir by artist/writer living in Umbria. It was published in Italy but can be ordered through her website www.gindasimpson.com One of the most entertaining and moving stories that I have read.

Just finished an oldie (1964) but a goodie- 'A Traveller in Italy' by H.V.Morton. Really brings the history of northern and central Italy to life through his discovery of it's characters. I believe it has just been reissued in paperback after 20 odd years out of print...

Please keep them coming. I am almost through That Fine Italian Hand by Paul Hofmann. Another good book that should be added to the list!

i love busterla's suggestions (okay, i admit that i was a classics major). i would add one other by e.m. forster: "where angels fear to tread"

also "the wings of the dove" by henry james

This is a good one for Rome "City of the Soul: A Walk in Rome" by William Murray.

I highly recommend a new book called "The Dark Heart of Italy" by Tobias Jones. It is an amazing eyeopener about the very real political and cultural malaise that exists in modern Italy. As the book cover describes, the author moved to Italy "expecting to discover the pastoral bliss described by centuries of foreign visitors. Instead he found a very different country: one besieged by unfathomable terrorism and deep-seated paranoia." I know it sounds depressing, but really it just balances the mythical Italy created by so many sycophantic books and movies. And ultimately helps you understand and still love this fascinating country.

First of all: blessings to DogMother for taking the time to pull it all together.

Second, for mystery lovers and all who find Florence fascinating, I offer Magdalen Nabb's fine series featuring The Marshall. Cunningly crafted mystery stories, very well written and available through Amazon.com.

Two by Hemingway:

A Farewell to Arms

Across the River and into the Trees

For US readers of the Donna Leon Venice mystery series featuring Commissario Brunetti, I noticed two newer books from the series are now available on amazon: A Sea of Troubles and Wilful Behaviour. WHY is it so difficult to get these books in the US?!

Dog Mother (I'm a dog mother too)--thanks for putting the list together.

Another to add that I haven't read yet but just got for my book group is Renalto's Luck by Jeff Shapiro.

ne of my favorites ids Thomas Mann's "Deathi Venice"now to see the visually beautiful film that was adapted , you can see how they can change the essance. Mann said "it seemed"
Visconti, being gay, said, "ït was"
Now this is done by direction with a look. That is why when you see a play, whoever stars in it on a given day, can change the story by personality alone...i..e..body language. Books give you the original intent.

ttt

I've just discovered Sarah Dunant's 'Mapping the Edge' which partly takes place in Florence and in the Italian countryside. Not only does the character's love of Italy come across but it's the kind of book you'd open up as your flight takes off and you won't be able to put it down until you land. It's considered a thriller, although that always makes me think of spy stories which it isn't at all. It's about responsibility, lust, love, children, the meaning of friendship, motherhood and what happens when something frightening happens in our lives. Dunant is an award-winning mystery writer, so her sense of timing and suspense is impeccable.

This is an oldie, too. "The Story of San Michele" by Axel Munthe. Read it when I was 7 yrs old and fell in love with Capri. I did find the Phoenician steps from Capri to Anacapri and walked all the way to Munthe's villa.

A great book on the history of Florence that reads like a novel is "The Stones of Florence" by Mary McCarthy. I have recommended this book to several friends and they all agree, it's great.

ttt, because summertime is what reading is made for!

Really surprised that no one has mentioned Jacqueline Park's excellent "The Secret Book of Grazia dei Rossi," set in several Italian cities during the Renaissance, about the plight of a young Jewish woman and her family as they are kicked out of one town after another.
Very well researched.

The Scala Reale website provides an extensive recommended reading list.

I just returned from Italy and read a couple of books by Andrea Camilleri -- part of a contemporary mystery series called the "Inspector Montalbano" mysteries. I think that they have also been serialized for Italian TV. The protagonist is a Sicilian police detective. They were really great. The first is titled "The Shape of Water" and the next is "The Terra-cotta Dog" -- I enjoyed them both & if you like mysteries, you should check them out.

The following is my offering to your magnificent collection of books.
A Soldier of the Great War by Mark Helprin. An elderly gentlemen relates the story of his life from growing up in a wealthy family in Rome through the horrors of World War 1. Survival, and love of family comes through; humorous at times, but very moving.


The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim. A gentle sweet novel about life, love and the changes natural beauty of the land bring to four English women. Movie was based on this book.

After Hanibal by Barry Unsworth. A wonderful character study of Italians/English with Perugia as the background.

Love and War in the Appennines and A Small Place in Italy by Eric Newby. Biography or war and love and then the reconstruction of a "rustico" after WW 11 in an area near La Spezia.

Jamsandjelly

Just wanted to follow through...just finished reading Renalto's Luck by Jeff Shaperio and it was WONDERFUL!

Topping

I just started reading "A Thousand Bells At Noon". It's kind of different from other things I've read, and so far, I'm enjoying it.

BC

I just finished "As the Romans Do" by Alan Epstein. It's a collection of little essays on the author's experiences in living in Rome as an expatriate with his wife and two children. Very funny and a light, quick read that provides a glimpse of everyday modern Roman life.

A completely different suggestion...a good art history book can be priceless. Before I left, I dug out my old-but-classic college textbook, Gardner's Art Through the Ages, and reread the sections on ancient Roman art and Italian Renaissance art. I got so much more out of all the art and buildings we saw. It's really expensive ($100), like most college textbooks, but you might be able to borrow one from a local library or buy an older edition from the secondhand shelf of a college bookstore.

I also bought a cheap book on Michelangelo's art from Barnes & Noble for my family (light on text, heavy on color pictures), and again it helped us get so much more out of the art we saw.

This was a busy summer for me...and I thanks this post for the different comments about various books, also Amazon thank you also because lately I have bought many books from them..
At this moment I am reading Oriana Fallaci new little book : The Rage and the Pride, is so interesting, surely a must read book.
Ciao and Happy Reading,
kismet

For a comprehensive list of mysteries, as well as other books, set in Italy, go here:
http://italian-mysteries.com/

Topping for Italian Traveler05

I just finished reading La Bella Vita by Vida Adamoli.
It is written by an English woman who marries an Italian in the late 1960's and writes about their lives in Rome and then on the coast above Naples. They settle in a small coastal town and she describes how the town and the locals and the "outsiders" change and cope over the years.
She doesn't faun or condescend and I enjoy her writing style.

Today in Rome the Pope celebrate his 25 anniversary as the Bishop of Rome.
There is a great interesting small book about the story of the Vatican and the Pope's elections.
The book title is: White Smoke Over the Vatican by Don Sharkey.

A note about Mann's Death in Venice...many here would be surprised to learn it is written from the viewpoint of a gay pedophilic stalker. It is an excellent piece of prose, stylistically, but I think it would be a little disturbing for some of the folks here. Be advised.

If that sort of thing doesn't bother you, I still say Nabokov is better. Just MHO, of course.

Just a note -- I found Donna Leon's books at MysteryLovers.com. They seem to have the whole Guido Brunetti series. But, having said that, her books left me with a feeling of sadness if what she sees in Italy is true -- corruption and rampant greed everywhere, a grim view of the Catholic Church, a dim view of tourists, and on and on. Sheesh, sounds like here.

I agree about Donna Leon's books. I had to stop reading the last one mid way it was getting me so depressed. I think that is the good thing about traveling, you don't always see the underbelly of a place. I prefer my rose colored glasses for the places I visit, there is enough crime and corruption here in Los Angeles it is good to escape it.

SeaUrchin -- Exactly! I swear that I had a black cloud over my head after finishing "The Death of Faith". Ms. Leon seems determined to expose the ugly underbelly of Italy and Venice in particular -- she's got issues!

I think of reading as a great escape that doesn't leave you with a hangover, but the Guido Brunetti series has left me with heartache and caused me to curb my daydreaming about retiring and living La Dolce Vita in Italy.

We're in agreement, but don't let it stop you from dreaming. In any city or any place really there is a dark side, we just don't have to dwell on it.

She does seem to dwell on ugliness and her books don't offer a way out either, just sort of hopeless resignment.

I used to work at a county criminal court and that is a real ugly underbelly, I had to quit, I was beginning to dwell on all that was wrong with LA.

Time for an updated compilation of all contributions. It may take several postings to get the whole list.

A Farewell to Arms by Hemingway
A Room with a View, by E.M. Forster
A Sea of Troubles by Donna Leon Venice mystery series
A Thousand Bells At Noon
A Thousand Days in Venice- Marlena De Blasi's an autobiographical account of her meeting a Venetian man & moving to Venice to marry him. Besides being entertaining, it gives insight into Venetian attitudes (or at least her perspective of Venetian attitudes). It also mentions lots of specific food related places (she's a chef/food writer) you might want to visit. It's a quick read.
A Traveller in Italy' by H.V.Morton. Really brings the history of northern and central Italy to life through his discovery of it's characters. I believe it has just been reissued in paperback after 20 odd years out of print...
Across the River and into the Trees by Hemingway
After Hanibal by Barry Unsworth. A wonderful character study of Italians/English with Perugia as the background.
An Architect?s Rome by John M. McGuire, Jr.
An Italian Affair by Laura Fraser
Angels and Demons by Dan Brown
Artemisia by Alexandra Lapierre set in Rome
As the Romans Do by Alan Epstein. It's a collection of little essays on the author's experiences in living in Rome as an expatriate with his wife and two children. Very funny and a light, quick read that provides a glimpse of everyday modern Roman life
Aurelio Zen mystery series by Michael Dibdin, is set all over modern Italy--Cabal is set in Rome.
Book by Iris Origo
City of the Soul: A Walk in Rome" by William Murray.
Dances with Luigi (A real favorite, about an American taking a period of time off to discover some information about his Italian grandparents - very sensitively written. I preferred it to Pasquale's Nose, hands down!)
Death in Venice, by Thomas Mann.
Deeply Rooted by Ginda Simpson. A personal memoir by artist/writer living in Umbria. It was published in Italy but can be ordered through her website www.gindasimpson.com One of the most entertaining and moving stories that I have read.
Disturbance of the Inner Ear by Joyce Hackett. The Hackett book is current
Etruscan Places (D.H. Lawrence)
Extra Virgin is a wonderful book written by a young British girl settling down in Italy.
Francis of Assisi: A Revolutionary Life In the process of discussing his life and the genesis of the Franciscan Friars, there's a wealth of information about the region surrounding Perugia, Umbria and beyond. Fascinating dissection of the political, economic and class issue that affected life at the time and best of all many of the referenced sites can still be seen and visited.
Galileo's Daughter, by Dava Sobel
Italian Days (Barbara Grizzuti Harrison)
Twilight in Italy, D.H. Lawrence
Italian Education, Tim Parks
Italian Hours (Henry James)
Italian Neighbors, Tim Parks
Italian Villas and their Gardens, by Edith Wharton
La Bella Vita by Vida Adamoli. It is written by an English woman who marries an Italian in the late 1960's and writes about their lives in Rome and then on the coast above Naples. They settle in a small coastal town and she describes how the town and the locals and the "outsiders" change and cope over the years. e doesn't faun or condescend and I enjoy her writing style
La Cucina by Lily Prior - fiction, but beautifully written - Sicily based, some Mafia involvement, and an ode to cooking. Really worth the reading!
Little World of Don Camillo by Guareschi
Love and War in the Appennines and A Small Place in Italy by Eric Newby. Biography or war and love and then the reconstruction of a "rustico" after WW 11 in an area near La Spezia
Mapping the Edge by Sarah Dunant.. which partly takes place in Florence and in the Italian countryside. Not only does the character's love of Italy come across but it's the kind of book you'd open up as your flight takes off and you won't be able to put it down until you land. It's considered a thriller, although that always makes me think of spy stories which it isn't at all. It's about responsibility, lust, love, children, the meaning of friendship, motherhood and what happens when something frightening happens in our lives. Dunant is an award-winning mystery writer, so her sense of timing and suspense is impeccable.
Michelangelo and the Pope?s Ceiling, by Ross King about the painting and politics of the Sistine Chapel and Rome during that era.
Mrs. Garnet's Angel
Mysteries set in Venice by Edward Sklepowich,
Pasquale's Nose by ??
Postcards from Europe by Rick Steves. There is a good thread on his website graffiti wall for more book ideas.
Renalto's Luck by Jeff Shaperio and it was WONDERFUL!
Sea & Sardinia, D.H. Lawrence
See Naples, by Douglas Allanbrook, a memoir of his experience in Italy during the war and after -- lyrical and haunting.
Serenissima by Erica Jong. was written several years ago and I believe is out of print, but if you can get a used copy or one from the library, it's well worth it.
Steven Saylor writes a great historical mystery series set in ancient Rome.
Stones of Florence (Mary McCarthy)
That Fine Italian Hand by Paul Hofmann.
The Agony and the Ecstasy, Irving Stone. Really gets you inside Michaelangelo's mind.
The City of Florence (R.W.B. Lewis)
The Collected Traveler: Central Italy Tuscany and Umbria. It is described as "an inspired anthology and travel resource." ISBN 0-609-80443-X
The Dark Heart of Italy" by Tobias Jones. It is an amazing eyeopener about the very real political and cultural malaise that exists in modern Italy. As the book cover describes, the author moved to Italy "expecting to discover the pastoral bliss described by centuries of foreign visitors. Instead he found a very different country: one besieged by unfathomable terrorism and deep-seated paranoia." I know it sounds depressing, but really it just balances the mythical Italy created by so many sycophantic books and movies. And ultimately helps you understand and still love this fascinating country.
The Death of Faith by. Donna Leon seems determined to expose the ugly underbelly of Italy and Venice in particular -- she's got issues! -- I found Donna Leon's books at MysteryLovers.com. They seem to have the whole Guido Brunetti series. But, having said that, her books left me with a feeling of sadness if what she sees in Italy is true -- corruption and rampant greed everywhere, a grim view of the Catholic Church, a dim view of tourists, and on and on.
The Decameron - For a series of great & fun short stories set in another century. These are all short stories based on different facets of love, and are quite entertaining.
The Donna Leon mystery novel series featuring her detective, Guido Brunetti, and set in Venice.
The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim. A gentle sweet novel about life, love and the changes natural beauty of the land bring to four English women. Movie was based on this book
The Garden of the Finzi-Continis by Giorgio Bassani. This novel is about a rich Jewish family in Ferrara on the eve of WWII.
The Geometry of Love by Margaret Visser is an excellent, poetic, lyrical, fact-filled introduction to why churches look the way they do. Absolutely fascinating,and you will feel so knowledgable every time you look at anything in a church, cathedral, basilica or chapel for evermore!
The Italians by Luigi Barzini
The Leopard, by Giuseppe di Lampedusa, is considered by some people to be the greatest Italian novel of the 20th century. The author was a Sicilian prince, and the hero of the novel (which takes place in the 1860's) was supposedly based on his great-grandfather. The book was turned into a movie with Burt Lancaster.
The Marshal by Magdalen Nabb.. for mystery lovers and all who find Florence fascinating, Cunningly crafted mystery stories, very well written and available through Amazon.com.
The Merchant of Prato gives a very interesting insight into what made one man a successful businessman in Tuscany in the late 14th-early 15th century.
The Miracles of Santo Fico is a sweet novel set in Tuscany.
The Name of the Rose. A mystery
The Rage and the Pride by Oriana Fallaci
The Roman Way by Edith Hamilton
The Seasons of Rome: A Journal. By Paul Hofmann
The Secret Book of Grazia dei Rossi by Jacquline Park set in several Italian cities during the Renaissance, about the plight of a young Jewish woman and her family as they are kicked out of one town after another. Very well researched.
The Shape of Water by Andrea Camilleri
The Sixteen Pleasures: A Novel, by Robert Hellenga.
The Soldier of the Great War by Mark Helprin. An elderly gentlemen relates the story of his life from growing up in a wealthy family in Rome through the horrors of World War 1. Survival, and love of family comes through; humorous at times, but very moving.
The Stones of Florence by Mary McCarthy
The Story of San Michele by Axel Munthe .. about Capri
The Terracotta Dog by Andrea Camilleri
The Wings of the Dove by Henry James
Twilight in Italy
Under the Tuscan Sun, of course, is now a well-recognized and widely-read book, among those of us who are Italophiles.
Vanilla Beans and Brodo by Isabella Dusi (nonfiction memoir, set in Montalcino)
Vaporetto 13 may be out of print now, but you can probably still obtain a copy through an out-of-print book service. Very intriguing, IMO.
Venetian Dreaming by Paul Weideger. It was discussed here before and a lot of people seemed to dislike it, but I really enjoyed it.
Venice Observed, Mary McCarthy
Where Angels Fear to Tread by e.m. forster
White Smoke Over the Vatican by Don Sharkey There is a great interesting small book about the story of the Vatican and the Pope's elections.
Wilful Behaviour by Donna Leon

A nice light read (a 6 hour plane ride's worth) about Italy is "The Last Promise" by Richard Evans. It is a simple romantic story about an artist and a tour guide at the Uffizi, not a brain stretcher, but a pleasant read that has loads of Italian atmosphere and vocabulary. It takes place in Florence and at a villa in Tuscany where Machiavelli is supposed to have lived.

ttt.. happy readings

What no I Claudius by Robert Graves! Fabulous book about the emperors, murder, emperors, murder, emperors, murder, emperors, murder, emperors, murder, emperors, murder, gripping read you'd not want to be Caesar, set in Rome, Pompei and Capri.

Thank you Dog Mother! I copied your alphabetical compilation and pasted it into my palm. Fabulous.

Baudolino by Umberto Eco. Set in Italy when Barbarossa was named Emperor of Italy.

Hi,
I have had time, between my addictive sessions on this forum, to recently read "1,000 days in Venice."
Loved it! It's kind of a chick book but so what. Gives you a great feel for Venice and some nice insights into making a relationship work. Also, great for foodies.
Thanks to those who posted it here.
j

Just finished reading Angels and Other Demons as recommended on this thread. It was fabulous! Am now reading Vanilla Beans and Brodo, while waiting for La Cucina and 1000 Days in Venice to come in.

Just to add info to the book list, "Pasquale's Nose" was written by Michael Rips.

Another book by Lily Prior is "Nectar." It was a rollicking farce, made me blush more than once, but hilarious nonetheless. Set in the past, exact era unknown, it's the adventures of an albino servant who emits a scent that intoxicates every man around, driving some to the point of suicide when they can't be among her multitude of lovers. Again, it's a naughty comedy, but the character names (and there are 99 of them) are absolutely hilarios. And of course I can't think of a one at this moment!

As for A Thousand Days in Venice, it has a special place in my heart, I'm living it out right now.

Cheers,
~K

Despite the klutzy title, this one is worth a browse: "Songbirds, Truffles and Wolves: An American Naturalist in Italy." The ethnobotanist author (? Nabhan) visits Genoa and then walks from Florence to Assisi. Readable observations on Italy past and present: flora and fauna, food, people, history, St. Francis. I didn't read it intently from cover to cover (the stuff about his personal life are distracting) but I learned some interesting things, especially about polenta!

In casse this wasn't previously listed, I'd suggest any of Dona Leon's fine mysteries set in Venice.

I hope I'm not repeating a recommendation. I tried to read all responces first before making my book suggestions.

I bought A Tuscan Childhood by Kinta Beevor while in Florence one year. It is a great true story of the children of Lina Waterfield, the founder of the British Institute in Florence. I had seen signs directing one to the Villa that is featured in the book and never went. Now I am sorry. It is outside Aulla Italy.

Another book that is more recent is When In Rome by Robert J. Hutchinson. It is very informative and funny at times. It is a journal of life at the Vatican.

Just released is A Very Private Gentleman by Martin Booth. Set in an (intentionally) anonymous hill town in italy it is about a man who keeps secrets about who he his while meeting and talking about the village priest, local prostitutes and other characters. Nice mystery thriller and well written.

ttt

I don't think I see this on the list anywhere, but I'm about two thirds of the way through the excellent novel, The Floating Book, by M R Lovric. Set in late 15th century Venice, it's an excellent novel about the early days of printing presses and the controvery it caused. Full of wonderful little bits about legends in Venice and other things (like the legend behind the "M" on tabby cats) and also a secondary story line about the poems of Catullus. Is this book available in the U.S. yet? Marlena de Blasi, author of A Thousand Days in Venice, called The Floating Book "breathtaking."
ISBN: 1-844408-003-X

So far, I have seen my very favorites here--Artesmia, Mrs. Garnet's Angel, Michaelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling, all wonderful!!

I read another book, although right now I can't recall the name, a reporter took a leave of absense to live for a year in Venice, Paris and London. Excellent book as well.

I really enjoyed Birth of Venus, by Sarah Dunant. It's set in Florence when Savaronola was doing his thing.

Update...
For those who enjoyed Annie Hawes' Extra Virgin, set in Liguria, there's a sequel called Ripe for the Picking.
For those who enjoyed Isabella Dusi's Vanilla Beans and Brodo, set in Montalcino, there's a sequel called Bel Vino. A must read for those interested in Brunello di Montalcino.
Both of these are available through amazon's UK site, as apparently no US site is carrying them.

Dog Mother, Robert Hellenga's *The Fall of a Sparrow* is fairly thick and kept me awake late for several nights. It is the story of the return to life of a father whose daughter was killed in the 1980 Bologna train station bombing. I also second the recommendations for Mann and Lawrence. Happy reading!

I just remembered another good one. *Summer's Lease* by John Mortimer, who wrote the Rumpole of the Bailey series. Busybody British woman with husband, kids, and outrageous father rents a Tuscan villa for the summer, replete with mystery and humor.

Here are a few books to add to this thread:

A new, absolutely delightful novel, set in Rome: "The Food of Love" by Anthony Capella. My husband and I both laughed all the way through this. It sort of reminds me of the light-hearted Peter Mayles Provence novels, although as different from Mayles as Rome is from the Luberon.

"The Stone Virgin," by Barry Unsworth. Set in Venice; read it and visit the Madonna dell'Orto Church, with a sculpture that inspired the story.

"The Marble Faun," by Nathaniel Hawthorne. It's not easy to wade through the 19th-century prose, but much of this book really is a travelogue of Rome disguised as a romance novel and it's fun from that standpoint. Apparently about a century ago, editions of this book were sold with blank pages for tourists to paste in pictures of themselves at all the points where action occurs in the story.

The guidebook "City Secrets: Rome" has a nice couple of pages recommending a "Marble Faun" route. This is a wonderful book, by the way, which hasn't been mentioned in this thread: the subtitle describes it as "The world's foremost artists, writers, architects, archaeologists, and historians reveal their favorite discoveries in this ultimate insider's guide."

I recently finished (on audiotape) an old (circa 1970) mystery by Ngaio Marsh, "When in Rome." It was fun for light diversion. Much of the action takes place in a church which must really be San Clemente, although it's called San Tomasso in the book, and two of the main characters supposedly look exactly like the Etruscan couple on the Villa Giula sarcophagus.

Someone asked about Capri: Right now I'm reading "The Apprentice Lover" by Jay Parini, set on the island during the Vietnam War era. It's wonderfully well written; I'd highly recommend it.

I also have out of the library, although I haven't yet started it, Shirley Hazzard's "Bay of Noon," set in Naples.

Another delightful novel by Shirley Hazzard set in Italy: "The Evening of the Holiday," recently reissued in paperback.

Wonderful old thread! I can't believe nobody mentioned Lindsey Davis's series of historical mysteries set in ancient Rome and featuring Marcus Didius Falco (the first was Silver Pigs)--like Saylor's books, they bring Rome to life. And, for nonfiction, Christopher Hibbert has written three books, one on Rome, one on Venice, and one on Florence, each subtitled "A Biography of a City"--he writes really well, and the historical background you need to understand Italy goes down easily.

I loved the "Birth of Venus" by Sarah Dunant. I'm such a sucker for stories about women going against the rules of their time and it's such a beautiful, heartbreaking love story. As a treat, it's set against Florence at the time of Lorenzo de Medici, Savonarola, and a quick 'cameo' by Michelangelo. It's just such an enjoyable read!

I saw a couple of references above to H.V. Morton's "A Traveller in Italy." He also wrote "A Traveller in Rome," which I found in paperback in one of the big-box bookstores recently and read in preparation for a trip to Rome in October. Very well-researched and fun to read, especially because we have already been there twice and so much seemed familiar. It was interesting to see his mid-1950's characterizations of the city and its people, which probably have not changed much at all over the last half-century.
Also second Tim Parks' books as well as Ross King's "Brunelleschi's Dome" and "The Pope's Ceiling." Great stuff.

Another good recent novel I forgot to mention: "Waking Raphael" by Leslie Forbes, a mystery set in Urbino, about an Englishwoman restoring a Raphael painting.

There are many worthy suggestions here, but I am struck by the fact that the vast majority of books recommended are by non-Italian authors. I think that I can count on one hand the number of Italians suggested. Surely one of the best ways to learn about a country is to read its literature.

I'd be interested in hearing suggestions for books by modern Italian authors beyond those already cited (Eco, Lampedusa, Camilleri et al).

Re: Books by modern Italian authors -- this just reminded me of a Italian novel that someone (who overestimated my fluency in the language) gave me a few years ago. Apparently it was a huge best-seller in Italy back in the 1990s. The title in Italian is "Va' dove ti porta il cuore" by Susanna Tamaro. In the English version, it was translated as "Follow Your Heart."

Since I really didn't have time to struggle through the Italian, I found the English version on tape in my library and listened to it. If you liked "Bridges of Madison County" you'd probably like this too. In other words, it doesn't fit the subject of "Great Books" but I guess it would illustrate the type of romantic novel very popular among Italian women.

Someone mentioned Luigi Barzini's most famous book "The Italians." I recently finished another of his books, a collection of essays titled "Memories of Mistresses." Again, a wonderful collection of insights into the Italian character.

I discovered Francine Rivers' Mark of the Lion series right before my first trip to Italy- the first book is A Voice in the Wind. These are really wonderful historical fiction! One of them opens with the main character being sent in to the lions at the Colosseum-Everyone I give them to can't put them down!

I'm delighted to see that this thread I started in April 2003 is still alive!

I think the idea of sharing titles of "good books" written by Italian authors is a terrific one. I may have been the one who posted that I really enjoyed The Italians, so I will look for the Memories of Mistresses--thanks for the tip!

Please keep up the suggestions. We are beginning to plan our fourth trip to Italy--to be taken end of May 2005. We are thinking of doing small towns in Umbria and Cinque Terre. Books set in those areas would be wonderful to read this winter!

DM

For a look at Naples by a Neapolitan, the novel "Thus Spake Bellavista: Naples, Love and Liberty" by Luciano de Crescenzo (out-of-print; may be available used; description on amazon.com).

And for something completely different: "Venice, Lion City" by Garry Wills, for anyone interested in the iconograophy of Venice (available in paper; has been criticized for images that are too small and in black and white).

A book about Umbria that I don't think has been mentioned here is Lisa St. Aubin de Teran's "A Valley in Italy: The Many Seasons of a Villa in Umbria." Her descriptions of her quite eccentric family living in a roofless ruin while trying to restore the ancient villa make Frances' Mayes saga under the Tuscan sun sound like a piece of cake.

We discovered (through an article about Lisa a couple of years ago in the NY Times) that the town she was writing about is actually Morra, although she doesn't give its real nam in the book. We drove there from Arezzo once (over one of the most hair-raisingly curvaceous roads in Umbria) in hopes of spotting her palazzo, since we had been so fascinated by her story. But I think it must be far off the main road, since we couldn't see anything resembling it.

I just finished a great book on Calabria entitled "Stolen Figs" by Mark Rotella. It's an enjoyable and informative book about a region that not much is written about. Other books I've enjoyed about Calabria are the classics, "In Old Calabria" by Norman Douglas and "A Traveller in Southern Italy" by H.V. Morton.

I mentioned this on another thread, but I really liked the novel Daughters of the Prince, by Noel Barber. It's set in pre-WWII and WWII-era Florence, Rome, and London. Among other things, it provided some interesting background info about how Florence's art treasures were (mostly) preserved in WWII.

I want to thank those of you who called to my attention to several books which I have read and LOVED.

Vanilla Beans and Brodo was terrific, especially since we have gone to Montalcino twice for two quick day trips--and now, must go back since I know so much more about it now. Also, we always bring home 4 bottles of Brunello when we go to Italy. This book really whetted my thirst for more.

I will now search for Dusi's second book Bel Vino.

Also, I thoroughly enjoyed The Miracle of Castel di Sangro by Joe McGinniss (except hated the ending--not the author's fault, but what truly happened that he had to write about). Luigi Barzini's Memories of Mistresses and also his O America, When You and I Were Young were superb!

Two other books I've read since my last posting and enjoyed are Italy Fever and Ciao, America by Beppe Severgnini.

I've purchased many more that have been listed so far--but, as you know, so many books, so little time.

Thanks for all your suggestions. Now, I must go and read...

For those of you who enjoyed 1000 days in Venice, there is a sequel called 1000 days in Tuscany. I have ordered it but haven`t received it yet. My friend who is reading it calls it dessert, she reads a little every night.

Pat,

Where did you order 1000 days in Tuscany? I just finished reading 1000 days in Venice and would love to read the the tuscany book? Was it from Amazon?

I bought mine at Border's. Beware, as it will make you very hungry each time you sit down to read it!

I have updated this posting's compilation. And in doing so, I have done two things. 1. I've added lots of comments I've found on the books, from the amazon.com site. I tried to take only uncopyrighted comments.

2. I have spent about $100 while doing this little task--Amazon.com and half.com have taken my money because I could not resist buying QUITE a few of these books, once I read the reviews.

Oh my!

I'll post the list in a separate listing.

Poor Dog Mother

A Farewell to Arms by Hemingway
A Room with a View, by E.M. Forster
A Sea of Troubles by Donna Leon Venice mystery series
A Thousand Bells At Noon: A Roman's Guide to the Secrets and Pleasures of His Native City by G. Franco Romagnoli. A celebrated chef returns to his native Rome to rediscover its pleasures.
A Thousand Days in Venice- Marlena De Blasi's an autobiographical account of her meeting a Venetian man & moving to Venice to marry him. Besides being entertaining, it gives insight into Venetian attitudes (or at least her perspective of Venetian attitudes). It also mentions lots of specific food related places (she's a chef/food writer) you might want to visit. It's a quick read.
A Traveller in Italy' by H.V.Morton. Really brings the history of northern and central Italy to life through his discovery of it's characters. I believe it has just been reissued in paperback after 20 odd years out of print...
A Traveller in Rome by H.V. Morton. Very well researched and fun to read, especially because we have already been there twice and so much seemed familiar. It was interesting to see his mid-1950's characterizations of the city and its people, which probably have not changed much at all over the last half-century.
A Traveller in Southern Italy by H.V. Morton.
A Tuscan Childhood by Kinta Beevor while in Florence one year. It is a great true story of the children of Lina Waterfield, the founder of the British Institute in Florence. I had seen signs directing one to the Villa that is featured in the book and never went. Now I am sorry. It is outside Aulla Italy.
A Valley in Italy: The Many Seasons of a Villa in Umbria by Lisa St. Aubin de Teran. Her descriptions of her quite eccentric family living in a roofless ruin while trying to restore the ancient villa make Frances' Mayes saga under the Tuscan sun sound like a piece of cake. We discovered (through an article about Lisa a couple of years ago in the NY Times) that the town she was writing about is actually Morra, although she doesn't give its real name in the book. We drove there from Arezzo once (over one of the most hair-raisingly curvaceous roads in Umbria) in hopes of spotting her palazzo, since we had been so fascinated by her story. But I think it must be far off the main road, since we couldn't see anything resembling it.
A Very Private Gentleman by Martin Booth. Set in an (intentionally) anonymous hill town in Italy, it is about a man who keeps secrets about who he his while meeting and talking about the village priest, local prostitutes and other characters. Nice mystery thriller and well written. Synopsis: A man known as "Mr. Butterfly" has made his small fortune devising specialized arms for assassins. Now all he wants is to retire to the beautiful Italian town where he has an apartment and a woman. But he is being stalked by a mysterious man, and he knows his life would be a lot more pleasant if the stranger suddenly, somehow, disappeared....
Across the River and into the Trees by Hemingway
After Hannibal by Barry Unsworth. A wonderful character study of Italians/English with Perugia as the background. Set in the beautiful landscape and rich history of Umbria, Italy, Booker Prize-winning author Barry Unsworth has written a witty and illuminating work of contemporary manners and morals. The region where Hannibal defeated the Romans is now prey to a different type of invasion: outsiders buying villas with innocent and not so innocent dreams.
An Architect’s Rome by John M. McGuire, Jr. I am sorry to see that this book is no longer in print. Before a trip to Rome, I purchased 'An Architect's Rome' and read it from cover to cover. Reading 'An Architect's Rome' helped me plan my trip and as I read my enthusiasm for Rome increased. By the time I arrived in Rome I felt as if I knew the city and was returning to visit my favorite places. The author transfered his love for the city to me. On the author's recommendation I took the Ostia Antica day trip and thoroughly enjoyed the day. This is the best book on Rome that I have read.
An Italian Affair by Laura Fraser. When Laura Fraser's husband leaves her for his high school sweetheart, she takes off, on impulse, for Italy, hoping to leave some of her sadness behind. There, on the island of Ischia, she meets M., an aesthetics professor from Paris with an oversized love of life.
Angels and Demons by Dan Brown
Artemisia: A Novel by Alexandra Lapierre. An international best-seller, Alexandra Lapierre's Artemisia sweeps us through the streets once frequented by Caravaggio, Velasquez, and Van Dyck and into the studios of artists who used their daggers as efficiently as their brushes. Born in the early 1600s when artists were the celebrities of the day, Artemisia was apprenticed to her father, the artist Orazio Gentileschi, at an early age. Raped by his partner Agostino Tassi at seventeen, the Gentileschi name was dragged through scandal for Artemisia refused, even when tortured, to deny that she had been raped. Indeed, she went farther: she dared to plead her case in court. Artemisia is the story of a powerful love/hate relationship between master and pupil, father and daughter, and a talent that overturned the prejudices of the day, winning commissions from wealthy patrons, nobles, and kings. Lapierre brings Artemisia Gentileschi to vivid life as she tells of the emotional struggles of the most fascinating and controversial artist of her time.
As the Romans Do by Alan Epstein. It's a collection of little essays on the author's experiences in living in Rome as an expatriate with his wife and two children. Very funny and a light, quick read that provides a glimpse of everyday modern Roman life
Baudolino by Umberto Eco. Set in Italy when Barbarossa was named Emperor of Italy. It is April 1204, and Constantinople, the splendid capital of the Byzantine Empire, is being sacked and burned by the knights of the Fourth Crusade. Amid the carnage and confusion, one Baudolino saves a historian and high court official from certain death at the hands of the crusading warriors and proceeds to tell his own fantastical story. Born a simple peasant in northern Italy, Baudolino has two major gifts—a talent for learning languages and a skill in telling lies. When still a boy he meets a foreign commander in the woods, charming him with his quick wit and lively mind. The commander—who proves to be Emperor Frederick Barbarossa—adopts Baudolino and sends him to the university in Paris, where he makes a number of fearless, adventurous friends. Spurred on by myths and their own reveries, this merry band sets out in search of Prester John, a legendary priest-king said to rule over a vast kingdom in the East—a phantasmagorical land of strange creatures with eyes on their shoulders and mouths on their stomachs, of eunuchs, unicorns, and lovely maidens. With dazzling digressions, outrageous tricks, extraordinary feeling, and vicarious reflections on our postmodern age, this is Eco the storyteller at his brilliant best.
Bel Vino: A Year of Sundrenched Pleasure Among the Vines of Tuscany by Isabella Dusi. A must read for those interested in Brunello di Montalcino. Isobel and Lou moved to Montalcino and became Isabella and Luigi ten years ago and they have now been embraced by the locals and immersed in their antiquated customs and age-old feuds. Isabella takes the reader on a winding journey to discover the true aristocratic origins of the world-renowned wine Brunello di Montalcino on whose vintage the fortunes of many of the Montalcinesi depend. Taking us through the seasons of the wine harvest, Dusi weaves a path that brings in the local white-hooded monks who have lived in the Abbey of Sant' Antimo since at least 814; the last remaining local shoemaker; the harvesting of mushrooms, olives and truffles; an archery contest with a local village at which passions run high; and the fight to save a 1000-year-old church with no foundations. As an insider, Dusi is able to portray Tuscan life with all its idyllic charms whilst also giving an intriguing insight into the daily workings of the ancient village of Montalcino. Available through Amazon’s UK site, as apparently no US site is carrying them.
Biography of a City by Christopher Hibbert has written three books (nonfiction), one on Rome, one on Venice, and one on Florence, each subtitled "A Biography of a City"--he writes really well, and the historical background you need to understand Italy goes down easily.
Birth of Venus, by Sarah Dunant. It's set in Florence when Savaronola was doing his thing.
Books by Donna Leon. Mystery novel series featuring her detective, Guido Brunetti, and set in Venice.
Books by Edward Sklepowich. Mysteries set in Venice.
Books by Iris Origo. The writer Iris Origo (1902-1988), a friend of Edith Wharton and Somerset Maugham who was equally at home in the cities of Italy and England, is profiled in Iris Origo : Marchesa Of Val D'orcia by the biographer of Bertrand Russell. Origo's colorful memoir, WAR IN VAL D'ORCIA, about life on her Italian husband's estate in the mountains of Tuscany during World War II, is a classic of the genre. Her literary milieu, as it flourished in the interwar period, is brought vividly to life in this biography, including a sharp portrait of her difficult and much-married mother and a dispassionate look at the relationship between Origo and her husband and the serious long-term love affair that threatened the stability of their marriage. A New York Times Notable Book for 2002.
Books by Michael Dibdin. Aurelio Zen mystery series. Set all over modern Italy--Cabal is set in Rome.
City of the Soul: A Walk in Rome" by William Murray.
City Secrets: Rome, a guidebook, has a nice couple of pages recommending a "Marble Faun" route. This is a wonderful book, by the way, which hasn't been mentioned in this thread: the subtitle describes it as "The world's foremost artists, writers, architects, archaeologists, and historians reveal their favorite discoveries in this ultimate insider's guide."
Dances with Luigi: A Grandson’s Search for His Italian Roots by Paul Paolicelli (A real favorite, about an American taking a period of time off to discover some information about his Italian grandparents - very sensitively written. I preferred it to Pasquale's Nose, hands down!) More that just a spiritual account of one man's ancestral search, Dances With Luigi is also a stunning portrait of la bella Italia--both old and new--that is painted beautifully in all of its glamour, history, and contradiction.
Daughters of the Prince by Noel Barber. It's set in pre-WWII and WWII-era Florence, Rome, and London. Among other things, it provided some interesting background info about how Florence's art treasures were (mostly) preserved in WWII.
Death in Venice, by Thomas Mann.
Deeply Rooted by Ginda Simpson. A personal memoir by artist/writer living in Umbria. It was published in Italy but can be ordered through her website www.gindasimpson.com. One of the most entertaining and moving stories that I have read.
Disturbance of the Inner Ear: A Novel by Joyce Hackett. Dark, intense, and often very funny, this critically lauded debut novel tells a story of inherited trauma healed by erotic love in the lives of two unlikely soul mates: Isabel, a former cello prodigy and daughter of a Holocaust survivor, and Giulio, an Italian gigolo. With its hypnotic internal logic, Disturbance of the Inner Ear conjures a ravaged landscape in which anything is possible. Hackett’s musical language comes alive in a pitch-perfect first-person narrative that is evasive yet intimate, and utterly unforgettable. Stylistically daring and psychologically acute, this dazzling debut marks the arrival of an exciting new novelist.
Etruscan Places by D.H. Lawrence
Extra Virgin: A Young Woman Discovers the Italian Riviera, Where Every Month Is Enchanted by Annie Hawes. A sister travelogue to IN PROVENCE and UNDER THE TUSCAN SUN, this book talks about the Italian Riviera, its landscape, cuisine, and local color. This is a wonderful book written by a young British girl settling down in Italy.
Follow Your Heart by Susanna Tamaro. Apparently, it was a huge best-seller in Italy back in the 1990s. The title in Italian is "Va' dove ti porta il cuore". Since I really didn't have time to struggle through the Italian, I found the English version on tape in my library and listened to it. If you liked "Bridges of Madison County" you'd probably like this too. In other words, it doesn't fit the subject of "Great Books" but I guess it would illustrate the type of romantic novel very popular among Italian women.
Francis of Assisi: A Revolutionary Life In the process of discussing his life and the genesis of the Franciscan Friars, there's a wealth of information about the region surrounding Perugia, Umbria and beyond. Fascinating dissection of the political, economic and class issue that affected life at the time and best of all many of the referenced sites can still be seen and visited.
Galileo's Daughter, by Dava Sobel
I, Claudius: From the Autobiography of Tiberius Claudius, Born 10 B.C., Murdered and Deified A.D. 54 by Robert Graves. Fabulous book about the emperors, murder, emperors, murder, emperors, murder, emperors, murder, emperors, murder, emperors, murder, gripping read you'd not want to be Caesar, set in Rome, Pompeii and Capri.
Old Calabria by Norman Douglas. When Norman Douglas visited Calabria, Italy in the early years of the 20th century, its wild, secluded, and enigmatic country attracted little interest and few tourists. But Douglas never followed the already-traveled path, and so, we have this classic in which he wittily escorts us from the promontory of Gargano to the tip of Aspromonte, and through the influences of many invaders. Elegant and literary, this remarkable travel book stands in a class of its own.
Italian Days (Barbara Grizzuti Harrison)
Italian Education, Tim Parks
Italian Hours (Henry James)
Italian Neighbors, Tim Parks
Italian Villas and their Gardens, by Edith Wharton
La Bella Vita by Vida Adamoli. It is written by an English woman who marries an Italian in the late 1960's and writes about their lives in Rome and then on the coast above Naples. They settle in a small coastal town and she describes how the town and the locals and the "outsiders" change and cope over the years. She doesn't faun or condescend and I enjoy her writing style
La Cucina by Lily Prior - fiction, but beautifully written - Sicily based, some Mafia involvement, and an ode to cooking. Really worth the reading!
Little World of Don Camillo by Giovanni Guareschi. I have never read a Don Camillo novel that I didn't like. Comprising short, humourous, often heartwarming, tales about a parish priest in a small Italian village and his battles against the local communist mayor, his conscience, and other local crises. It has a charm, warmth and local flavour that take the reader on a journey through time to a different world. These stories are simply excellent!
Love and War in the Appennines and A Small Place in Italy by Eric Newby. Biography or war and love and then the reconstruction of a "rustico" after WW 11 in an area near La Spezia
Mapping the Edge by Sarah Dunant.. which partly takes place in Florence and in the Italian countryside. Not only does the character's love of Italy come across but it's the kind of book you'd open up as your flight takes off and you won't be able to put it down until you land. It's considered a thriller, although that always makes me think of spy stories which it isn't at all. It's about responsibility, lust, love, children, the meaning of friendship, motherhood and what happens when something frightening happens in our lives. Dunant is an award-winning mystery writer, so her sense of timing and suspense is impeccable.
Mark of the Lion series by Francine Rivers. The first book is A Voice in the Wind. These are really wonderful historical fiction! One of them opens with the main character being sent in to the lions at the Colosseum-Everyone I give them to can't put them down!
Michelangelo and the Pope’s Ceiling, by Ross King about the painting and politics of the Sistine Chapel and Rome during that era.
Miss Garnet's Angel by Salley Vickers. Miss Julia Garnet is a quiet and repressed schoolteacher whose life changes immeasurably when she goes on vacation to Venice, where she encounters art, beauty, love, and loss, and finds herself.
Nectar by Lily Prior. It was a rollicking farce, made me blush more than once, but hilarious nonetheless. Set in the past, exact era unknown, it's the adventures of an albino servant who emits a scent that intoxicates every man around, driving some to the point of suicide when they can't be among her multitude of lovers. Again, it's a naughty comedy, but the character names (and there are 99 of them) are absolutely hilarious. And of course, I can't think of a one at this moment!

Songbirds, Truffles and Wolves: An American Naturalist in Italy. By Gary Paul Habhan. The ethnobotanist author visits Genoa and then walks from Florence to Assisi. Readable observations on Italy past and present: flora and fauna, food, people, history, St. Francis. I didn't read it intently from cover to cover (the stuff about his personal life are distracting) but I learned some interesting things, especially about polenta!
Pasquale's Nose: Idle Days in an Italian Town by Michael Rips. Everywhere hailed for its quirkiness, its hilarity, its charm, Pasquale's Nose tells the story of a New York City lawyer who runs away to a small Etruscan village with his wife and new baby, and discovers a community of true eccentrics—warring bean growers, vanishing philosophers, a blind bootmaker, a porcupine hunter—among whom he feels unexpectedly at home.
Postcards from Europe by Rick Steves. There is a good thread on his website graffiti wall for more book ideas.
Renato's Luck by Jeff Shapiro and it was WONDERFUL! In this fable-like novel, Renato Tizzoni, who lives in the Tuscan town of Sant'Angelo d'Asso, is distressed when his best friend dies, the government announces it's going to build an intrusive a dam in his quiet town, and his daughter falls for a boy he can't stand. Life has lost all its luster, and he becomes depressed. Then a dream instructs him to go to the Pope for counsel, and as the townspeople find out where he's going they load him down with their own requests. Enlightened by the hard luck of others, Renato determines to try to solve his own problems.
Ripe for the Picking by Annie Hawes. [I cannot find anything about this book anywhere. So I’m uncertain of the accuracy of the title/author/etc.]
Sea & Sardinia, D.H. Lawrence
See Naples: A Memoir, by Douglas Allanbrook, a memoir of his experience in Italy during the war and after -- lyrical and haunting.
Serenissima by Erica Jong. was written several years ago and I believe is out of print, but if you can get a used copy or one from the library, it's well worth it.
Silver Pigs: A Detective Novel in Ancient Rome, by Lindsey Davis. Winner of the Best First Novel award from the Authors' Club, and debut of the Didius Falco mystery series. It is A.D. 70, when Roman P.I. Marcus Didius Falco runs into comely Sosia Camillina on the steps of the Forum. It seems she's being chased by a few unsavories for a stockpile of silver pigs—silver ingots—but Falco wants more information. What he gets is a whiff of treason and a one-way ticket to his own funeral pyre.... "It has everything: mystery, pace, wit, fascinating scholarship, and above all, two protagonists for whom, by the end, I feel genuine affection, and want to meet again." Ellis Peters (reviewer on Amazon.com)
Stolen Figs: and other adventures in Calabria by Mark Rotella, Calabria is the toe of the boot that is Italy—a rugged peninsula where grapevines and fig and olive trees cling to the mountainsides during the scorching summers while the sea crashes against the cliffs on both coasts. Calabria is also a seedbed of Italian American culture; in North America, more people of Italian heritage trace their roots to Calabria than to almost any other region in Italy. Mark Rotella’s Stolen Figs is a marvelous evocation of Calabria and Calabrians, whose way of life is largely untouched by the commerce that has made Tuscany and Umbria into international tourist redoubts. A grandson of Calabrian immigrants, Rotella persuades his father to visit the region for the first time in thirty years; once there, he meets Giuseppe, a postcard photographer who becomes his guide to all things Calabrian. As they travel around the region, Giuseppe initiates Rotella—and the reader—into its secrets: how to make soppressata and ’nduja, where to find hidden chapels and grottoes, and, of course, how to steal a fig without actually committing a crime. Stolen Figs is a model travelogue—at once charming and wise, and full of the earthy and unpretentious sense of life that, now as ever, characterizes Calabria and its people.
Stones of Florence (Mary McCarthy)
Summer's Lease by John Mortimer, who wrote the Rumpole of the Bailey series. Busybody British woman with husband, kids, and outrageous father rents a Tuscan villa for the summer, replete with mystery and humor.
That Fine Italian Hand by Paul Hofmann.
The Agony and the Ecstasy, Irving Stone. Really gets you inside Michaelangelo's mind.
The Apprentice Lover by Jay Parini, set on the island during the Vietnam War era. It's wonderfully well written; I'd highly recommend it.
The City of Florence (R.W.B. Lewis)
The Collected Traveler: Central Italy Tuscany and Umbria. It is described as "an inspired anthology and travel resource." ISBN 0-609-80443-X
The Dark Heart of Italy" by Tobias Jones. It is an amazing eyeopener about the very real political and cultural malaise that exists in modern Italy. As the book cover describes, the author moved to Italy "expecting to discover the pastoral bliss described by centuries of foreign visitors. Instead he found a very different country: one besieged by unfathomable terrorism and deep-seated paranoia." I know it sounds depressing, but really it just balances the mythical Italy created by so many sycophantic books and movies. And ultimately helps you understand and still love this fascinating country.
The Death of Faith by. Donna Leon seems determined to expose the ugly underbelly of Italy and Venice in particular -- she's got issues! -- I found Donna Leon's books at MysteryLovers.com. They seem to have the whole Guido Brunetti series. But, having said that, her books left me with a feeling of sadness if what she sees in Italy is true -- corruption and rampant greed everywhere, a grim view of the Catholic Church, a dim view of tourists, and on and on.
The Decameron - For a series of great & fun short stories set in another century. These are all short stories based on different facets of love, and are quite entertaining.
The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim. A gentle sweet novel about life, love and the changes natural beauty of the land bring to four English women. Movie was based on this book
The Evening of the Holiday by Shirley Hazzard
The Fall of a Sparrow by Robert Hellenga is fairly thick and kept me awake late for several nights. It is the story of the return to life of a father whose daughter was killed in the 1980 Bologna train station bombing.
The Floating Book: A Novel of Venice, by Michelle R Lovric. Venice, 1468. The beautiful yet heartless Sosia Simeon is making her mark on the city, driven by a dark compulsion to steal pleasure with men from all walks of life. Across the Grand Canal, Wendelin von Speyer has just arrived from Germany, bringing with him a cultural revolution: Gutenberg's movable type. Together with the young editor Bruno Uguccione and the seductive scribe Felice Feliciano, he starts the city's first printing press. Before long a love triangle develops between Sosia, Felice, and Bruno—who has become entranced by the verse of Catullus, the Roman erotic poet. But a far greater scandal erupts when Wendelin tempts fate by publishing the poet—and changes all of their lives forever. Sosia, the heartless sensualist; Felice, a man who loves the crevices of the alphabet the way other men love the crevices of women; Lussieta, whose anguish gives the story its soulful heart: these and many other characters make The Floating Book an unforgettable experience for lovers of romance, history, and the printed word. Marlena de Blasi, author of A Thousand Days in Venice, called The Floating Book "breathtaking”. ISBN: 1-844408-003-X
The Food of Love by Anthony Capella. A new, absolutely delightful novel set in Rome. My husband and I both laughed all the way through this. It sort of reminds me of the light-hearted Peter Mayles Provence novels, although as different from Mayles as Rome is from the Luberon.
The Stone Virgin by Barry Unsworth. Set in Venice; read it and visit the Madonna dell'Orto Church, with a sculpture that inspired the story.
The Marble Faun by Nathaniel Hawthorne. It's not easy to wade through the 19th-century prose, but much of this book really is a travelogue of Rome disguised as a romance novel and it's fun from that standpoint. Apparently, about a century ago, editions of this book were sold with blank pages for tourists to paste in pictures of themselves at all the points where action occurs in the story.
The Garden of the Finzi-Continis by Giorgio Bassani. This novel is about a rich Jewish family in Ferrara on the eve of WWII.
The Geometry of Love by Margaret Visser is an excellent, poetic, lyrical, fact-filled introduction to why churches look the way they do. Absolutely fascinating,and you will feel so knowledgable every time you look at anything in a church, cathedral, basilica or chapel for evermore!
The Hills of Tuscany: A New Life in an Old Land by Ferenc Mate. As seductive as A Year in Provence and Under the Tuscan Sun, but with the wit and charm of a 1930s romantic comedy, the true-life adventure of a couple who chucked New York for a new life in Tuscany. The Mates arrived in Tuscany in the late 1980s knowing no Italian and with only four weeks to search for the country house of their dreams. On their last night there, after having been chased by wild boars and befriended by a country realtor who also sells pigs and coffins, they finally concluded the deal on the hood of a rusting tractor with the lawyer speaking Italian and them responding in French, English, and Hungarian, in a Tower of Babel version of "Who's on First?" So begins Ferenc Mat's endearing, in-love-with-life memoir of their first five years in Tuscany, by turns buoyant, reflective, and laugh-out-loud hilarious. His engaging, often poetic prose describes the way of life they were looking for and found-where neighbors, community, home, and, most of all, children, form the focal point of daily life. They live in a small thirteenth-century monastery, surrounded by their vineyards and olive groves, in the spectacular hills near Siena, a few miles from where The English Patient was filmed. The Hills of Tuscany-steeped in mesmerizing scenery and wonderful medieval towns, full of unforgettably delightful characters and spectacular food and wine-nourishes body, mind, and soul. If you're not passionately in love with life at the moment, you'll be hopelessly so by the time you turn the last page.--
The Italians by Luigi Barzini
The Last Promise by Richard Evans. It is a simple romantic story about an artist and a tour guide at the Uffizi, not a brain stretcher, but a pleasant read that has loads of Italian atmosphere and vocabulary. It takes place in Florence and at a villa in Tuscany where Machiavelli is supposed to have lived.
The Leopard, by Giuseppe di Lampedusa, is considered by some people to be the greatest Italian novel of the 20th century. The author was a Sicilian prince, and the hero of the novel (which takes place in the 1860's) was supposedly based on his great-grandfather. The book was turned into a movie with Burt Lancaster.
The Marshal by Magdalen Nabb for mystery lovers and all who find Florence fascinating, Cunningly crafted mystery stories, very well written and available through Amazon.com.
The Merchant of Prato gives a very interesting insight into what made one man a successful businessman in Tuscany in the late 14th-early 15th century.
The Miracles of Santo Fico is a sweet novel set in Tuscany.
The Name of the Rose. A mystery
The Rage and the Pride by Oriana Fallaci. With The Rage and the Pride Oriana Fallaci breaks a ten year silence. The silence she kept until September 11's apocalypse in her Manhattan house. She breaks it with a deafening noise. In Europe this book has caused and causes a turmoil never registered in decades. Polemics, discussion, debates, hearty consents and praises, wild attacks. And a million copies sold in Italy where it still is at the bestsellers' top. Hundreds of thousands in France, in Germany, in Spain: the other countries where it has become the Number one Bestseller. Around a dozen translations will soon appear. With her well-known courage Oriana Fallaci faces the themes unchained by the Islamic terrorism: the contrast and, in her opinion, incompatibility between the Islamic world and the Western world; the global reality of the Jihad and the lack of response, the lenience of the West. With her brutal sincerity she hurls pitiless accusations, vehement invectives, and denounces the uncomfortable truths that all of us know but never dare to express. With her rigorous logic, lucidity of mind, she defends our culture and blames what she calls our blindness, our deafness, our masochism, the conformism and the arrogance of the Politically Correct. With the poetry of a prophet like a modern Cassandra she says it in the form of a letter addressed to all of us. The text is enriched by a dramatic preface in which Oriana Fallaci reveals how The Rage and the Pride was born, grew up, and detachedly calls it "my small book." In addition, a preface in which she tells significant episodes of her extraordinary life and explains her unreachable isolation, her demanding and inflexible choices. Because of this too, what she calls "my small book" is in reality a great book. A precious book, a book that shakes our conscience. It is also the portrait of a soul. Her soul. No doubt it will remain as a thorn pierced inside our brains and our hearts.
The Roman Way by Edith Hamilton
The Seasons of Rome: A Journal. By Paul Hofmann
The Secret Book of Grazia dei Rossi by Jacquline Park set in several Italian cities during the Renaissance, about the plight of a young Jewish woman and her family as they are kicked out of one town after another. Very well researched.
The Shape of Water by Andrea Camilleri
The Sixteen Pleasures: A Novel, by Robert Hellenga. "I was twenty-nine years old when the Arno flooded its banks on Friday 4 November 1966. On Tuesday I decided to go to Italy, to offer my services as a humble book conservator, to save whatever could be saved, including myself." The Italians called them "Mud Angels," the young foreigners who came to Florence in 1966 to save the city's treasured art from the Arno's flooded banks. American volunteer Margot Harrington was one of them, finding her niche in the waterlogged library of a Carmelite convent. For within its walls she discovered a priceless Renaissance masterwork: a sensuous volume of sixteen erotic poems and drawings. Inspired to sample each of the ineffable sixteen pleasures, Margot embarks on the intrigue of a lifetime with a forbidden lover and the contraband volume--a sensual, life-altering journey of loss and rebirth in this exquisite novel of spiritual longing and earthly desire.
The Soldier of the Great War by Mark Helprin. An elderly gentlemen relates the story of his life from growing up in a wealthy family in Rome through the horrors of World War 1. Survival, and love of family comes through; humorous at times, but very moving.
The Stones of Florence by Mary McCarthy
The Story of San Michele by Axel Munthe. A bestseller in a dozen languages and a favorite of readers for decades, The Story of San Michele is one of a remarkable life filled with fabulous experiences and ambitions. Axel Munthe was a fashionable physician in Paris who built one of the best-loved houses in the world, San Michele, on the Isle of Capri, on the site of the villa of the emperor Tiberius. Written with intelligence and verve, this autobiography tells tales of buried treasure in Italy, legendary creatures in Lapland, and the cold countesses and kindly whores of Naples—enough material, as one critic put it, “to furnish writers of short stories with plots for the rest of their lives.” “A frank and absorbing autobiography…packed with good stories, vivid scenes, and memorable portraits.” -- The Times [London] “Written in an imaginative style that is vigorous and impressive.” -- New York Times
The Terra-Cotta Dog by Andrea Camilleri. Inspector Montalbano has garnered millions of fans worldwide with his sardonic take on Sicilian life. Montalbano's latest case begins with a mysterious têtê à têtê with a Mafioso, some inexplicably abandoned loot from a supermarket heist, and dying words that lead him to an illegal arms cache in a mountain cave. There, the inspector finds two young lovers, dead for fifty years and still embracing, watched over by a life-sized terra-cotta dog. Montalbano's passion to solve this old crime takes him on a journey through Sicily's past and into one family's darkest secrets. With sly wit and a keen understanding of human nature, Montalbano is a detective whose earthiness, compassion, and imagination make him totally irresistable.

The Wings of the Dove by Henry James. Of the three late masterpieces that crown the extraordinary literary achievement of Henry James, The Wings of the Dove (1902) is at once the most personal and the most elemental. James drew on the memory of a beloved cousin who died young to create one of the three central characters, Milly Theale, an heiress with a short time to live and a passion for experiencing life to its fullest. To the creation of the other two, Merton Densher and the magnificent, predatory Kate Croy, who conspire in an act of deceit and betrayal, he brought a lifetime's distilled wisdom about the frailty of the human soul when it is trapped in the depths of need and desire. And he brought to the drama that unites these three characters, in the drawing rooms of London and on the storm-lit piazzas of Venice, a starkness and classical purity almost unprecedented in his work. Under its brilliant, coruscating surfaces, beyond the scrim of its marvelous rhetorical and psychological devices, The Wings of the Dove offers an unfettered vision of our civilization and its discontents. It represents a culmination of James's art and, as such, of the art of the novel itself.
Thus Spake Bellavista: Naples, Love and Liberty by Luciano de Crescenzo. For a look at Naples by a Neapolitan (out-of-print; may be available used; description on amazon.com). The professor Bellavista was retired from many years, but he is still working on his peripatetic philosopher activity. The book is the report of amusing and coloured talks in his old house in the heart of Naples about life, Naples, love and history of the humanity. After this book the author has directed a very funny movie (already an italian cult) and a pictures book.
Venice, Lion City by Garry Wills, for anyone interested in the iconography of Venice (available in paper; has been criticized for images that are too small and in black and white).
Twilight in Italy, D.H. Lawrence. In these essays, written not long after his elopement with Frieda von Richtofen in 1912, D.H. Lawrence recorded much of what he saw and felt as he traveled with her from Bavaria to Gargano. TWILIGHT IN ITALY is not autobiographical, nor can it be labeled as travel sketches. Most of the pieces are vivid, sensitive, masterful, often rhapsodic impressions of the Italian countryside and the Italian temper. With his genius for combining psychological perception, sociological insight, and personal enthusiasm, Lawrence transforms ordinary rights of passages into intense beauty.
Under the Tuscan Sun, of course, is now a well-recognized and widely-read book, among those of us who are Italophiles.
Vanilla Beans and Brodo by Isabella Dusi (nonfiction memoir, set in Montalcino)
Vaporetto 13 may be out of print now, but you can probably still obtain a copy through an out-of-print book service. Very intriguing, IMO.
Venetian Dreaming by Paula Weideger. It was discussed here before and a lot of people seemed to dislike it, but I really enjoyed it. Who hasn't longed to escape to the enchanting canals and mysterious alleyways of Venice? Globetrotting writer Paula Weideger not only dreamed the dream, she took the leap. In Venetian Dreaming, she charts the course of her love affair with one of the world's most treasured cities.
Venice Observed (Art and Places), Mary McCarthy. MCarthy's tone is leisurely and informative, her style witty and engaging. Her asides about her personal experiences in the city complement her grander historical and artistic musings: you never feel alienated from her prose (the way you can in her earlier THE STONES OF FLORENCE). Her anecdotes about the doges, Tintoretto, Veronese, the Councils, etc. greatly enhanced one's understanding of the city, and her musings on the art are thoughtful and illuminating.
Waking Raphael by Leslie Forbes. , a mystery set in Urbino, about an Englishwoman restoring a Raphael painting.
When in Rome by Ngaio Marsh. It was fun for light diversion. Much of the action takes place in a church which must really be San Clemente, although it's called San Tomasso in the book, and two of the main characters supposedly look exactly like the Etruscan couple on the Villa Giula sarcophagus.
When In Rome by Robert J. Hutchinson. It is very informative and funny at times. It is a journal of life at the Vatican. Humorous, irreverent, but ultimately respectful, When in Rome does for the Vatican what A Year in Provence did for the French countryside, in an unforgettable and unprecedented eyewitness account of one of the most fascinating places on Earth.
Where Angels Fear to Tread by e.m. forster
White Smoke Over the Vatican by Don Sharkey There is a great interesting small book about the story of the Vatican and the Pope's elections.
Wilful Behaviour by Donna Leon

linking to
Helpful Information Italy

I just ordered my copy of 1000 days in tuscany on Amazon...and yes, DogMother..Amazon is a dangerous place. I think that they should put a warning..Beware this website can be addictive and dangerous to your finances!

Dear Dog Mother,
I just want to say thank you for the compilation of wonderful books you put together. Obviously it was a lot of work and I wanted you to know it is appreciated.
p.s. in addition to my human children, I am mom to two dogs.

Dog_Mother, As far as I know, you are the only person other than I on this forum who has recommended Oriana Fallaci's book The Pride and The Rage. It is so powerful.

Getting off track a little...I would like to also recommend a video "The Night of the Shooting Stars," from 1982, subtititled in English. This Italian movie was recommened to me, and if you do a search on Amazon and read the customer reviews, you just might be inclined to rent it (if you an find it).

I read somewhere that the author of "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" (can`t think of his name right now)had written or was writing a book on Venice. Anybody know anything about it?

John Berendt wrote "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil." Here's a brief story about his forthcoming book on Venice, due in October 2005:

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/10/29/1098992294273.html?from=storyrhs&oneclick=true

Dog_Mother, thanks from me, too, for that wonderful compilation of all the recommendations in this thread.

Nonnafelice, I will check out the link for John Berendt`s book on Venice. I`m sure he put a lot of research into it.

I checked out Amazon for John Berendt's book since I really liked "Midnight.." and it is already available to pre-order even though it doesn't come out until October. I'm glad to have found out about it, because if it is as good as "Midnight.." it should be great and I love to read about Venice, any little way to feel that I am back there!

Thanks, Dog Mother. Ripe for the Picking by Annie Dawes IS the correct title. The book is a sequel to her earlier one, Extra Virgin. The setting is Liguria. Apparently, it is not available in the US. But, you can find it at amazonUK.

This morning as I sipped my café au lait I read the review of a new book by
Johm Grisham, "The Broker." A character is whisked out of jail, sent to italy with a nw I.D. and is told to follow strict orders on how not to resemble an American. "No shorts, no black socks and white sneakers, no poyester slacks, no golf shirts...and Plase don't start getting fat."

Janet Maslin's NYT review of "The Broker" did not compel me to want to read it.

A beautiful book is "Castles in Italy - The Medieval Life of Noble Families" (ISBN 382901578X), Text by Clemente Manenti and photos by Markus Bollen.

The photographs are both exterior and interior and include paintings, frescoes, statuary.

It also includes a map of the castles so you could plan a trip to your favorites.

Another book to add to this great list:

I've just finished Jeff Shapiro's new book "Secrets of Sant'Angelo." If you enjoyed his first one, "Renato's Luck," you'll be glad to know that he continues in the same wonderful vein with a magical, moving, tender, yet funny and down-to-earth tale of life in the Tuscan village of Sant'Angelo. This story centers on Renato's daughter and a mysterious mother-son combo who arrive in town just before Christmas to set many changes in motion.

I was almost as sad to finish this book as I am when ending a real trip to Italy, because I didn't want to leave Sant'Angelo and all the people there whose lives I had loved sharing for a few days. I hope Jeff Shapiro is already working on the next in the Sant'Angelo series!

" White Smoke Over the Vatican" by Don Sharkey.
With the Holy Father being sick, fragile and old, this is a very interesting book about the Vatican.

Carlo Levi "Christ Stopped at Eboli"

And related to the Levi book, a recent one: "Seasons in Basilicata : A Year in a Southern Italian Hill Village" by David Yeadon. Yeadon more or less followed Levi's trail, and spent a year in the village Levi had written about 60 years earlier. A lovely book, sprinkled with the author's own drawings.

My problem is that every time I read about a part of Italy I didn't know much about before, I want to go there, too!

I enjoyed Yeadon's Basilicata book, as well. Thanks for mentioning it.

Reading "Boticelli Blue Skies" by Gerber. Non-fiction about a couple who live in Florence for 3 months while the husband is teaching there. Easy read and gives a good flavor on Florence.

A friend gave me a book called Rosemary & Bitter Oranges before I went to Italy in 2003. I loved it! It is a coming of age story set in an Italian kitchen...it even has a few recipes woven into the text.

Hi, Dog Mother!

Others have already mentioned Thomas Mann's novella, "Death in Venice" (a downer, yes, but worth reading), and "The Wings of the Dove," by Henry James (I do better if I start with film adaptations before tackling James's dense prose).

Tom Holland's "Rubicon" is a gossipy account of the schemings of Rome's leading citizens as the republic gave way to empire.

Bernini vs Borromini...

"The Genius in the Design - The Rivalry that Transformed Rome" a new book by Jake Morrisey

Nino Ricci Trilogy beginning with Lives of the Saints.

Happy reading

ttt

One that I neglected to mention previously (though maybe someone else did): I Promessi Sposi (The Betrothed) by Alessandro Manzoni.

ttt for Itstyle

Lindsey Davis has a great mystery series set in ancient Rome.

topping

My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed the biography of Girolamo Savonarola! Before, I had thought he was a crazy fanatic, now I am enthralled with this great man, and can't wait to go back to San Marco and visit his cell.

"A Crown of Fire" by Pierre Van Paassen

I have a wonderful recommendation for fiction set in Italy: CASA ROSSA by Francesca Marciano. It is the story of a beautiful villa in Southern Italy Puglia and the three generation women that called it home. Breathtaking and very, very engaging. I could not put this book down.

Thoroughly enjoyed "A House in Sicily". I would recommend it to anyone.

I had to top this one, as well. Read up everyone!

I am currently reading "The Reluctant Tuscan" by Phil Doran. Very entertaining. It takes place in Montalpuciano.

Last Voyage of the Valentina by Santa Montefiore was also very entertaining.

I am also trying to read Vanilla Beans and Brodo but it is not as easy to read. Takes place in Montalcino.

In tribute to Michael Dibdin, who died earlier this month, I offer up the suggestion of his series of Aurelio Zen novels set in Italy. My favourite: Ratking

Highly recommend Eat, Pray, Love...cannot remember the author..it is a fun and fascinating read. A travelogue of Italy, India and Indonesia. The first part is in Italy with emphasis on the food, the second in an ashram in India and the third in Indonesis where the author finds love. Hence the title.

Elizabeth Gilbert is the author of Eat, Pray, Love. Definitely an entertaining read but not really that much about Rome/Italy.

I would recommend that anyone reading this thread also check out another one that was started in 2001 and has recently been reactivated. The heading is "What Should I read before Going to Italy?" I (recently returned from a trip to Rome and still reading about Italy) am finding lots of good suggestions on it.

an old thread that deserves to be at the top of the pile.

Dog_Mother....Grazie for a very excellent list.

I absolutely loved Marlena de Blasi's "A Thousand Days in Venice" ...utterly romantic. Her Tuscany book was delightful, but not as good as the first (is it ever?)

I also loved Brendt's "City of Falling Angels". Such a interesting story and style. Details mixed in with facts. Fabulous!

TO DogMother who wrote >>Ripe for the Picking by Annie Hawes. I cannot find anything about this book anywhere. So I’m uncertain of the accuracy of the title/author/etc.<<

Actually, this book went to press under the title "Extra Virgin: A young woman discovers the Italian Riviera, where every month is enchanted". Amazingly entertaining, Annie and her sister went to Italy for a summer and ended up staying there to live. Absolutely great rec.

I would like to add a sports slant to this list.
"The Miracle of Castel Di Sangro" by Joe Mcginniss. An American writer goes to a small town to follow a soccer team thru one season. Very well written and entertaining even if you don't like soccer.
"A Season with Verona" by Tim Parks English writer follows his adopted town of Verona's soccer team to all road games. Hilarious.

These descriptions sound similar but they are very different books. Enjoy

I am not a huge sports fan but really enjoyed both the books mentioned by curveball2. Tim Parks' other books, Italian Neighbors and an Italian Education are also very good

My husband just found A Thousand Bells at Noon: A Roman's Guide to the Secrets and Pleasures of His Native City: Franco G. Romagnoli on a remainder table at our local bookstore, and I liked it a lot too

"That Summer in Italy" by DeBlasi draws the reader into an enchanting tale. A fabulous read.

Keep your eyes out for Isabella Dusi's [Vanilla Beans and Brodo] expected new book
.
There's a comprehensive list, sorted by regions, on www.ItalyInside.BlogSpot.com [movies too]

Do you mean That Summer In Sicily? I enjoyed it too. A bit different than her other books, in that she is writing about someone else, not her and Fernando

Oops, should read "Sicily" -- tanxs for telling me

As I scrolled through this old thread, I realized that I had seen it before and contributed to it.

Here's what I wrote in 2004:

"There are many worthy suggestions here, but I am struck by the fact that the vast majority of books recommended are by non-Italian authors. I think that I can count on one hand the number of Italians suggested. Surely one of the best ways to learn about a country is to read its literature.

I'd be interested in hearing suggestions for books by modern Italian authors beyond those already cited (Eco, Lampedusa, Camilleri et al)."

In subsequent posts, little has changed. Can anyone recommend some modern Italian authors whose works are available in translation?

I can't wait to read some of these before my March trip to Italy.

I don't think anyone mentioned this one:
Elizabeth Spencer's novella The Light in the Piazza. It will absolutely make you want to fall in love with Firenze...and cute Italian boys. If you ever get the chance to see the musical adaptation by Adam Guettel, DO IT. It is pure magic.

>>some modern Italian authors whose works are available in translation?<<

Gianrico Carofiglio, in real life an anti-Mafia judge in Bari, writes mysteries set in that city that feature a somewhat anti-heroic lawyer.

Massimo Carlotto, in real life a victim of massive miscarriages of justice, also writes mysteries, some of them featuring a hard-boiled unlicensed detective nicknamed The Alligator.

I just joined this website and discovered, to my amazement and gratitude, this list of 2 of my favorite things -- Italy and reading. Here are a few titles I can offer.

Two old books set in the World War II era (fiction):
"The Secret of Santa Vittoria" by Robert Creighton
"Miracle of St. Anna" by James McBride

Another old one (non-fiction):
"Women of the Shadows: A Study of Wives and Mothers of Southern Italy" by Ann Cornelisen

A more recent book:
"Monster of Florence: A True Story by Douglas Preston with Mario Spezi -- the true crime story of modern times and how the authors become entangled in the investigation and subsequent cover-up by the politics of the police authories.

Enjoy, and keep it going!

topping a year later, with thoughts that more new books have been published

Juliet by Anne Fortier--a new Romeo & Juliet version set in Sienna. After reading it, I am so wanting to go to Sienna. Funny thing, though, the author's mother did most of the "on the ground" research.

A fabulous read for anyone interested in Rome:
The Families Who Made Rome: A History and a Guide, by Anthony Majanlahti.

I've bought and read way too much dire fiction set in Italy over the last year - but it's been made up for entirely by this, a joy to refer to...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Oxford-Archaeological-Guides-Amanda-Claridge/dp/0199546835

And in June, a new edition of another favourite is due...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/City-Secrets-Rome-Robert-Kahn/dp/1892145049/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1302100966&sr=1-2

Best of all though, the BBC's dramatisation of three of Dibdin's Aurelio Zen novels has had me rereading those, which has cost nothing... beyond the DVD itself, and a new player - after we found that the old one had turned up its toes!

Peter

best thread ever!!!!
check out the book Head Over Heel by Chris Harrison .. loved it! Aussie man falls in love with a woman from Puglia, true story, very funny.. great read..

http://www.chrisharrisonwriting.com/books/headoverheel/