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26 Highly-Rated Books Set in Italy
By: Angela & Melissa
Updated:
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, we may earn a referral fee from qualifying purchases.As we updated our book recommendations for Western Europe in our Book Voyage Read Around the World challenge, we discovered so many exceptional books set in Italy that they deserved their own dedicated list.
From the canals of Venice to the vineyards of Tuscany, the Amalfi Coast, and the museums of Rome, these novels capture Italy’s diverse regions and rich culture. Whether you’re drawn to Italian historical fiction, contemporary romance, cozy mysteries, or memoirs of Italian life, this collection offers the perfect literary escape to Italy.
Venice & Northern Italy
From Venice’s romantic canals to Lake Como’s mountain shores and Friuli’s Alpine landscapes, northern Italy blends Renaissance splendor with Central European influences.
The Glassmaker
Book Summary
In 1496, Orsola Rosso was growing up in a glassmaking family, but as a woman, she was forbidden from working with glass.
When her father dies in an accident, leaving her brother unprepared to run the family business, Orsola secretly teaches herself to make glass beads. Working in the shadows, she knows her creations must be perfect to be accepted in a male-dominated world.
Skipping like a stone through the centuries, we follow Orsola and the Rosso family as they navigate war and plague, shifting economies and power, from the dominance of Murano’s glassmakers to the transformation of Venice from a city of trade into a city of tourists. Through the centuries, Orsola hones her craft, and her beads adorn the necks of empresses and courtesans across Europe.
About the Book’s Structure
Tracy Chevalier uses an inventive narrative structure in which time jumps forward by decades and centuries, while Orsola and her family age very slowly.
This gives readers a unique way to experience the evolution of Venice and the glassmaking trade through the eyes of the same characters. This gives us a story that’s part historical fiction, a dash of magical realism, and a love letter to the enduring art of Venetian glassmaking.
The Venice Sketchbook
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
92% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
In 2001, Caroline Grant was in the midst of her marriage falling apart when her beloved great-aunt Lettie passed away, leaving Caroline a sketchbook, three keys, and the request that her ashes be spread in Venice. Key by key, Caroline learns the secrets that Lettie kept for more than 60 years – secrets of impossible love, loss, and courage.
In her younger years, Lettie traveled to Venice numerous times as an art teacher, providing a wealth of art history to her students and allowing her to visit the man she loves, even though his future cannot include her.
Why We Think You’ll Love It
As the story unfolds, this novel is filled with beautiful descriptions of Venice’s narrow footpaths, canals, architecture, and food, both in the 1928-1944 timeline and in the 21st century. Art plays an important role throughout this novel.
If you’ve always wanted to visit, consider this book your armchair travel ticket.
Another Italy-Set Book About Art
If you love art history but want a grittier historical fiction suspense, consider reading The Last Mona Lisa by Jonathan Santlofer. It is about an art history professor who travels to Florence, Italy, to read the long-lost journal of his grandfather, who he suspects may have been behind the 1911 theft of the Mona Lisa. Uncovering the truth turns out to be a dangerous endeavor. As in The Venice Sketchbook, the many art references and vivid descriptions of Italy bring the story to life.
The Instrumentalist
Book Summary
In 1695, Baby Anna Maria was abandoned outside the Ospedale della Pietà, an orphanage for daughters of prostitutes. These girls are among the lucky ones who did not drown in the city’s canals. By age eight, Anna Maria is obsessed with music and determined to become Venice’s greatest violinist and composer. She has synesthesia (seeing vibrant colors when she hears sounds), making music a visceral experience.
When Antonio Vivaldi selects her as his star pupil, Anna Maria knows this harsh, brilliant teacher is her path to greatness. Vivaldi purchases a violin for her and composes pieces specifically for her talent. As her genius threatens to eclipse even his, the power dynamics shift.
But for the right price, Vivaldi will teach Anna everything. Anna Maria must choose between her orphan sisters, her only family, and her ruthless ambition in a brutal, competitive world where being a woman means her contributions may be forgotten.
Related Reading
If you enjoy learning about Anna Maria’s synesthesia and would like to read about more characters with this gift, don’t miss our list of Books that Explore the Senses.
The Little Venice Bookshop
Book Summary
Luna was raised in communes and with a nomadic lifestyle, so she has always felt rootless. But now her only family, her mother, has died, and she feels truly alone.
While sorting through her mother’s belongings, Luna discovers mysterious letters written to her mother by someone named Giancarlo, hinting at a past she never knew existed. With her best friend Gigi, Luna travels to Venice, where their search leads them to a faded bookshop overlooking the canals, owned by the reclusive Giancarlo. He’s a grumpy, book-loving Italian who surrounds himself with cats.
Luna takes a job helping to revitalize the chaotic shop, all while trying to learn more about Giancarlo and his relationship with her mother. As she works to breathe new life into the bookshop, Luna begins to discover where she truly belongs.
What to Know Before Reading
The opening section, focusing on Luna’s alternative lifestyle background (including communes and New Age spiritual practices), doesn’t resonate with some readers. Several noted the book “started slow” but improved once the setting shifted to Venice.
Once Luna and Gigi arrive in Italy, fans praise the atmospheric Venice setting and the bookshop itself, a booklover’s dream complete with literary-named cats. Readers particularly enjoy the celebration of books and reading, with Luna being a passionate romance reader. The emotional depth surprised many, who found the exploration of grief, healing, and finding family to be moving and authentic.
The View From Lake Como
Book Summary
The life Jess is living isn’t the one she dreamed of. Recently divorced from her supposed “perfect husband,” Bobby, she has moved into her parents’ basement in Lake Como, New Jersey. She’s a dutiful, but often overlooked, daughter who cares for her parents and puts her own needs last.
She’s a talented draftswoman working for her Uncle Louie’s marble business. Louie is her confidante and believes that with a better wardrobe, she could achieve just about anything.
When her family suffers an unexpected loss, secrets are revealed that cause Jess to question who she can trust. She finally decides it’s time to take fate into her own hands by visiting her ancestral home in Italy. From the mountains of Tuscany to the streets of Milan, and on the shores of Lake Como, she begins to uncover the truth about her family history.
Along the way, Jess meets Angelo, an artist who works in gold. She discovers that her own skills are priceless, but it will take every tool she has mastered to carve out her own place in the world and live a life filled with creativity and love.
About the Setting
In case you are wondering like we were… Yes, there really is a Lake Como in New Jersey. Located on the Jersey Shore, it’s a quiet residential community that was formerly known as South Belmar before its name was changed to Lake Como in 2005.
While this is Trigiani’s newest release, she also has other highly-rated novels set partially in Italy, including The Good Left Undone and The Shoemaker’s Wife.
In Italy for Love
Book Summary
Julia thought her future was in the Italian B&B she was going to restore with her boyfriend, Luca. Unfortunately, they broke up a year ago and still live together in the dilapidated B&B. Now, she’s broke, and her passport has expired.
She needs to earn money to afford a flight home to Australia, and she knows she needs to get away from Luca to move forward in life. A job on an olive farm in an ancient Northern Italian town on the banks of the gloriously blue Natisone river seems like the perfect escape.
Julie has her walls up when she arrives, but then the community of farmers, neighbours, and locals generously welcome her into their lives. One of the locals, the broodingly handsome Alex, has also sworn off love for his own reasons, but maybe they need each other.
What to Expect in This Book
Readers say that while this novel includes a sweet romance with a little spice, it also includes some seriousness and grief as a good balance. Dog-lovers will enjoy Julie’s exuberant pup, Arco, more than Attila, Alex’s Persian cat does.
Tuscany & Florence
Rolling vineyards, medieval hilltop towns, and Renaissance masterpieces make Tuscany the heart of Italian art, wine, and la dolce vita.
The One Euro Fix
Book Summary
After losing her long-term boyfriend and high-stress tech job, thirty-year-old Freya Anderson buys a crumbling Italian house online for one euro. Armed with optimism and zero renovation skills, she arrives in the tiny village of Montefiore expecting her “Under the Tuscan Sun” fantasy. Instead, she gets no running water, collapsing ceilings, and a grumpy neighbor who looks like he belongs in an espresso commercial.
Her new neighbor, Cyrus, didn’t expect chaos in a sundress to knock a hole through his kitchen wall. When Freya learns her new house must pass a strict inspection in ninety days, or she’ll lose it, Cyrus reluctantly agrees to help, strictly to protect his property value. As plaster dust flies and tempers flare, their partnership becomes something neither planned for.
Between bureaucratic disasters, nosy villagers, and a wild boar crashing through his kitchen, they discover that sometimes you have to rebuild more than a house.
Our Thoughts on This Book
Melissa listened to this audiobook and loved the total escape to a small Italian village. It has important themes, but without being heavy, so it is truly perfect when you’re looking for a distraction read that transports you out of your own daily life.
While there is a romance subplot, more of the focus is on the character’s personal development and her new friendships with the great side characters.
Still Life
Book Summary
As bombs fall, young British soldier Ulysses Temper and sixty-four-year-old art historian Evelyn Skinner spend an unforgettable evening in a ruined wine cellar. Over wine and conversation, Evelyn introduces Ulysses to art and a new way of seeing the world. The brief encounter will shape both their lives for decades.
When Ulysses returns to London after the war, everything has changed. His father’s shop was bombed, and his wife, Peg, has moved on. Years later, when he unexpectedly inherits a Florence apartment, he returns to Italy with his best friend Cress, Peg’s daughter Alys, and a Shakespeare-quoting parrot named Claude.
In Florence, the unlikely group builds a life together as a chosen family of artists, musicians, and misfits. Spanning four decades from the 1940s to the 1970s, the novel traces their interwoven lives through love and loss, the devastating 1966 Florence flood, and the many forms that family and beauty can take.
Know This Before Reading
This is a very character-driven read that meanders through the characters’ lives over the 460 pages. Skip it if you prefer fast-moving plot-based books.
Those who love it praise the beautiful prose, descriptions of Florence, celebrations of love in all its forms, and the connections to art.
These Tangled Vines
Book Summary
Fiona has long kept her late mother’s secret – the man raising her was not her biological father. She knows her mother had an affair in Tuscany, but has no idea that she was named in the will of her secret Italian father. In addition to the considerable surprise inheritance, Fiona also learns about her two half-siblings.
When she travels to Italy, the family is as shocked about her existence as she was about the will. This leads to tricky family interactions and new rivalries as Fiona tries to learn more about her mother’s summer in Italy and the father she never had a chance to meet.
Our Thoughts on This Book
Although we haven’t read this one yet, Melissa’s mom read and loved it!
Murder in Tuscany
Book Summary
Newly retired DCI Dan Armstrong receives a creative writing course in Tuscany as a retirement gift from his former colleagues. There’s just one problem. They forgot to check the fine print. The course isn’t for mystery writers; it’s for erotica authors.
High in the Tuscan hills at Villa Volpone, Dan tries to make the best of an awkward situation. But when the course host, renowned crime writer Jonah Moore, is found stabbed to death with his own award-winning silver dagger, Dan is pulled out of retirement. Teaming up with Italian Commissario Virgilio Pisano, he must investigate the eleven other guests. It quickly becomes clear that more than one person wanted Jonah Moore dead.
As Dan navigates the investigation, he inherits Oscar, the victim’s black Labrador, who becomes his loyal companion and confidant.
About the Series and Author
Murder in Tuscany is the first book in the Armstrong and Oscar Cozy Mysteries series, which currently has 13+ books set across various Italian locations (including Florence, Siena, Chianti, Portofino, Verona, and more). The series blends cozy mystery with private investigator and police procedural elements.
Each book is standalone but follows Dan Armstrong as he builds a new life in Italy, working as a private investigator with Oscar by his side.
The author lived in Italy and married an Italian, bringing authenticity to the settings.
The Cypress Maze
Book Summary
Beatrice dreamed of enjoying an escapist year teaching English, but now she is stranded in war-ravaged Italy. Francesca and Edoardo let her stay in their beautiful walled garden, Villa delle Colombe, which has an elaborate cypress maze in the center.
Francesca has also invited other children and adults to shelter on the estate. As the war gets closer, the residents witness unthinkable things.
In 2015, Beatrice is now the estate’s custodian and welcomes Tess, who is seeking healing after her husband’s death. Tess finds solace in the gardens until Marco, the estate’s absent owner, arrives. He’s ready to sell to developers. Is it finally time for Beatrice to reveal the villa’s painful past?
The Italian Village in the Hills
Book Summary
Stella never planned to return to the Ligurian village where she grew up. She’s spent decades trying to forget the heartbreak and family tragedy that drove her away. But when her new fiancé arranges a surprise birthday trip back to her childhood home, Stella has no choice but to face the past she’s been avoiding.
Meanwhile, Amy is grieving her beloved grandfather and trying to make sense of the mysterious items he left behind: an old coin necklace and a cryptic postcard. Determined to understand their significance, she follows the clues to the Italian Riviera, where a chance encounter brings her to Stella’s hilltop village and its wartime secrets that have remained hidden for generations.
As both women navigate the village’s cobbled streets, sun-drenched piazzas, and olive groves, they uncover truths about their families that change everything they thought they knew. Can confronting the past help them find the happiness and second chances they’re searching for?
More Books Set in Italy
This author has several novels set around Italy that you may enjoy if you like escapist, feel-good stories with some depth.
One Summer in Italy – Venice
An Italian Island Secret – Ischia (Island off Naples)
Invitation to Italy – Procida (Island off Naples)
The Italian Fiancé – Lucca (Tuscany)
A Farmhouse in Tuscany – Tuscany
The Italian Holiday – Amalfi Coast
Oil and Marble
Book Summary
At fifty, Leonardo da Vinci is at the peak of his career, but in this novel, his personal life is falling apart. He loses the David commission, can’t finish projects, obsesses over his flying machine, and watches his engineering designs fail. Then he becomes fixated on Lisa, a merchant’s wife, and paints the Mona Lisa.
Meanwhile, twenty-six-year-old Michelangelo is a temperamental sculptor desperate to prove himself. When he wins the David marble statue commission, he must work against an impossible deadline.
Leonardo despises Michelangelo for his youth and lack of sophistication. Michelangelo both loathes and worships Leonardo’s genius. Their rivalry pushes them to create their most famous masterpieces.
Love & Gelato
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
95% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
This YA novel is an excellent option if you’re looking for a coming-of-age story with mystery, adventure, and a sweet romance that will transport you to an Italy filled with – you guessed it – love and gelato. The descriptions of Italy in this book will have you immediately planning your next vacation, but this story also brings much more depth than you might expect at first glance.
Lina’s mother had one dying wish – that her daughter get to know the father she’d never met. Lina isn’t thrilled to be spending the summer in Tuscany with this man she just learned about, but when she is given the journal that her mom kept when she lived in Italy, everything begins to change. As she follows her mother’s footsteps, she processes her grief while also discovering art, hidden bakeries, and even romance.
Why We Think You’ll Love It
While this is a YA book, many of our adult readers have enjoyed it over the past few years. This is the perfect book to pick up if you just want something light and enjoyable that will make you feel like you’ve been on a very relaxing vacation to Italy.
Book Summary
Award-winning chef Kit Roth’s life goes up in flames when New York City restaurant burns down the same night her boyfriend dumps her after five years for being a workaholic. Needing a break while her kitchen is rebuilt, Kit reluctantly agrees to spend the summer in Manciano, a small town in southern Tuscany, working for her best friend’s pasta-making nonna, Gia.
Gia isn’t a sweet stereotype but a grouchy, no-frills woman with an iron fist in the kitchen. But the small town starts pulling Kit in. So does Nico, a ruggedly handsome olive oil producer with his own scorched past. His ex-wife left him to see the world, and the town is protective of him. With Kit determined to return to New York after three months and Nico rooted to his grove, their growing chemistry conflicts with their futures. As weeks pass, Kit finds herself measuring less and tasting more.
Rome & Lazio
The Eternal City layers ancient ruins, Renaissance palaces, and bustling piazzas into an incomparable setting where history and modern Italian life converge.
Book Summary
Elisabetta dreams of becoming a novelist, but her days are filled with working at a restaurant and caring for her alcoholic father. Marco is the brash and athletic son of a family of professional cyclists. He struggles with undiagnosed dyslexia but excels at everything else. Sandro, a brilliant Jewish mathematics prodigy, comes from a family of educated professionals. Both Marco and Sandro are falling in love with Elisabetta, and she must choose between them.
When Mussolini aligns Italy’s Fascists with Hitler’s Nazis in 1937, everything begins to unravel. The Race Laws of 1938 methodically strip Jews of their rights, including the rights to work, to teach, and to attend school. Marco finds himself working for the Fascist headquarters, while his brother Aldo secretly joins the anti-Fascist movement. Sandro’s dreams of academic success are destroyed because of his religion. As the Nazi occupation brings even more brutal atrocities, culminating in the horrific October 1943 roundup of Roman Jews, the three friends and their families face impossible choices about loyalty, survival, and love.
What to Expect in This Read
While the author is more well-known for fast-paced thrillers, some readers describe this (her first historical fiction novel) as more of a slow-burning story.
Readers praised the excellent research, often saying that they learned about aspects of the Italian Holocaust they’d never encountered before. The evocative descriptions of Roman neighborhoods like Trastevere, the Jewish Ghetto, and iconic landmarks make readers feel transported to the city. Many also mention appreciating the inclusion of lesser-known figures like Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty, who saved thousands during the war.
The Rebel Girls of Rome
Book Summary
In 1943, nineteen-year-old Bruna and her family live in Rome’s Jewish quarter under Nazi occupation. When the dreaded knock comes, Bruna escapes, but her family is taken. Overcome with guilt, she joins the underground resistance. Her missions reconnect her with childhood crush Elsa, forcing Bruna to decide how much to risk when fully embracing herself becomes her greatest act of resistance.
In the present day, college student Lilah is grieving her mother and desperate to connect with her distant grandfather Ralph, who refuses to discuss his past. When Italian student Tommaso contacts her about a golden locket stolen by Nazis, an heirloom from the 1943 gold ransom, Lilah realizes her great-aunt Bruna may have survived. She and Ralph travel to Rome to uncover the truth.
Our Thoughts on This Book
Angela has read and often recommends the author’s other YA historical fiction book, The Paper Girls of Paris, so she can’t wait to pick up The Rebel Girls of Rome.
Amalfi Coast & Southern Italy
Dramatic cliffs, pastel villages, and lemon groves define this sun-drenched coastline where Mediterranean beauty meets southern Italian charm.
The Amalfi Curse
Book Summary
Haven has come to Positano, Italy, to investigate the mysterious shipwrecks along the Amalfi Coast as part of her job as a nautical archaeologist. While she looks for historical artifacts, Haven also has a side quest. Her father spotted a trove of priceless gemstones on his last dive in the area, and she wants to find them.
As she searches for the hidden treasure, misfortunes start plaguing the town. Is it a coincidence, or is it part of the Amalfi Curse and part of the region’s centuries-old tale of ancient sorcery?
A Dual-Timeline Adventure
This fantasy novel features two timelines – Haven’s present-day life and the life of a sea witch named Mari in 1821.
One Italian Summer
Book Summary
Carol and Katy have been planning a mother-daughter trip to Positano, the magical Italian seaside town where Carol spent a summer long ago. But when Carol dies before the trip, Katy is faced with embarking on the adventure alone.
As soon as 30-year-old Katy sets foot on the Amalfi Coast, she can feel her mother’s spirit. She’s taking in the beautiful views and delicious food when her mother appears – but not the mother she just lost. Instead, she meets a healthy, tanned, 30-year-old version of her mother. For One Italian Summer, Katy gets to know Carol, not as her mom, but as the younger woman her mother used to be. Through her encounters with the 30-year-old version of her mom, Katy is inspired to reconsider her own life choices.
Our Thoughts on This Book
As we both read One Italian Summer, our rating of the book bounced around quite a bit, but by the end, we both gave it 4 stars and were very glad we finished it. The main character wasn’t always our favorite, but we loved her mother. We also loved the detailed descriptions of Positano and the Amalfi Coast.
The Witches of Santo Stefano
Book Summary
Investigative journalist Cassie Graves’s life crumbles when she discovers her husband’s affair. Then, researching her Italian ancestry, she uncovers an even bigger shock: her grandmother Gia’s cherished family stories are lies. The romanticized great-grandfather Giovanni may never have existed. Most alarming, her mysterious great-grandmother Violetta’s death certificate lists the cause as “stregoneria,” the Italian word for witchcraft.
Traveling to the centuries-old hill town of Santo Stefano to piece together her family tree, Cassie finds help from welcoming locals: accommodating Renzo, Dante, whose family history connects with hers, and ethereal Luna, a dream interpreter who gives Cassie a protective amulet. When Cassie discovers an old spell book, she gets closer to unearthing long-buried secrets about a powerful female lineage and the haunting truth of who she really is.
What to Expect in This Read
Some reviewers refer to this book as Italian Practical Magic, so if you’re a fan of that movie, this could be a great pick! Some readers familiar with the author were disappointed that this book didn’t have as strong a gothic feel as her previous works, which could be a pro or a con depending on your preferences.
Sicily
Italy’s largest island blends Greek temples, Norman castles, and volcanic landscapes into a culture shaped by centuries of diverse influences and fierce regional pride.
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
95% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
It was love at first sight when Tembi and Saro met in Italy. He was a professional chef, and she was an actress from Houston. His Sicilian family did not approve of their relationship and specifically took issue with Saro marrying a Black American woman. Nonetheless, the two built a happy life together in Los Angeles and adopted a baby girl. Just when they were finally beginning to reconcile with Saro’s family back in Sicily, Saro receives a devastating cancer diagnosis.
This memoir chronicles three summers that Tembi and her young daughter spent in Sicily after the loss of her husband. Despite having once been estranged from her in-laws, she begins to discover the healing powers of food and family.
About the Adaptation
Netflix has adapted this memoir into a romantic limited series, with Tembi serving as the co-creator and executive producer. The first difference that viewers will notice is that the characters’ names have all been changed; Tembi is called Amy in the series and is an American law school student. Additionally, the first season of the Netflix series takes place before the events in this memoir.
The Sicilian Inheritance
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
100% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Sara is struggling after both her business and marriage failed. When her beloved great-aunt Rosie passes away, it just feels like another punch from her terrible year. However, Aunt Rosie left Sara a plane ticket to Sicily, a deed to a possibly valuable plot of land, and a shocking secret. Rosie believes Sara’s great-grandmother, Serafina, was murdered.
Sara is recharged by this new mission to discover what happened to Serafina. She ends up on an epic adventure through the Italian countryside and learns all about her feisty great-grandmother, who fought for the rights of all the women in her small village. However, as Sara begins challenging the status quo as Serafina did, she’ll find herself in the same danger.
Thoughts on This Book
This dual-timeline novel will draw you into the stories of both Sara and Serafina. It’s the perfect read for anyone who enjoys both historical fiction and mysteries. The story was inspired by the author’s own great-grandmother, adding extra depth to the writing.
Journeys Across Multiple Regions of Italy
These stories sweep across Italy from north to south, offering journeys through the country’s diverse landscapes, cultures, and regional character.
Sally Brady’s Italian Adventure
Book Summary
Sally had a hard start to life as a Dust Bowl refugee sent to California in 1931. Despite being abandoned there, she is adopted by a Hollywood star. By 1940, she had a whole new life, secretly satirizing Europe’s upper crust and charming her way around Fascist-era Rome.
However, a good deed has now left her stranded in wartime Italy, and she must travel throughout the besieged land as she works her way home and tries to save her friends along the way.
The story alternates between the perspectives of Sally, an Italian writer admired by Mussolini, and Lapo’s son, an outspoken anti-Fascist.
What to Know Before Reading
Reviewers say the pace of the book picks up after the first 25%, so if it’s a slow start for you, it may be worth pushing ahead. Additionally, this section is from Sally’s younger years and is written more simply to match her age. As the book progresses, its tone shifts as she matures.
One Good Thing
Book Summary
Lili and Esti met at the University of Ferrara and have been best friends ever since. Both women have Jewish ancestry, which deems them an “inferior” race under Mussolini’s Racial Laws. Life goes on for the two women as a war breaks out across borders until Germany invades northern Italy, and they are suddenly living in occupied territory.
Self-confident Esti convinces Lili to flee to a villa in the countryside and help a group of young war orphans. Then they continue on to Florence, where they pose as nuns and falsify documentation for the Underground. But their biggest risk of all comes when Esti is wounded and asks Lili to run away with her young son in order to protect him.
Traveling alone with the boy, Lili does everything she can to keep Theo safe as they make their way through Allied territory, Nazi-occupied villages, and bombed-out cities.
Why We Think You’ll Love It
This is a beautiful story of friendship and one friend’s willingness to do anything to protect what is most important to the other.
The Star-Crossed Sisters of Tuscany
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
98% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Do you dream of seeing the Venetian canals, the Amalfi Coast, or wandering through gorgeous Tuscan villages? This novel will transport you to all three dramatically different scenic Italian locations in vivid detail.
Two hundred years ago, Filomena Fontana cursed her sister. Ever since then, every 2nd born sister in the Fontana family has been unable to find love.
Some of the women believe in the curse, and others are skeptical, but when elderly Aunt Poppy invites two of the young second-born sisters to return to Italy with her, promising to have a plan to break the curse, they can’t pass up the chance. The trio of women travels throughout Italy, learning about their family history and uncovering secrets.
Our Thoughts on This Book
If you’re looking for a book to get lost in, this is a charming and light read filled with vivid atmospheric details! The narrator’s Italian accent makes the audiobook especially enjoyable.
The Red House
Book Summary
Thirty years ago, Laura’s mother, Viola, vanished from their New Jersey home, leaving behind her purse, keys, and mysterious paintings of a red house. On each painting’s back, Viola scrawled in Italian: “I will not be here forever.” Now 42, the same age Viola was when she disappeared, Laura receives an unexpected call from Detective Hendricks, who handled her mother’s case. She flies to Italy in hopes of solving the puzzle.
In Brindisi and Puglia, Laura discovers shocking truths: Viola was Jewish, not Catholic. Her great-grandfather, Giovanni, never existed. Through elderly Tommaso Bassano, Laura learns that Viola and her family were imprisoned at the Red House, an internment camp in 1942. As the narrative shifts between Laura’s present-day quest and Viola’s harrowing wartime past, Laura confronts how trauma echoes across generations and finally comes to understand her mother’s story.
Reader Thoughts on This Book
Reviewers say this novel often has a memoir-like feel with introspective prose, and they appreciate learning more about the lesser-known history of Italian Jews during WWII, specifically the internment camps in southern Italy and the complex dynamics under Mussolini’s fascism.
Some wish the ending had more closure, while others appreciated the focus on emotional truth over tidy answers.
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Book Recommendations For Other Regions of the World
- Books Set in Western Europe
- Books Set in South America
- Books Set in Antarctica and the Arctic
- Books Set in North America (By Country & Region)
- Books Set in the Middle East
- Books Set on a Form of Transportation
- Books Set in Asia: Northern Countries
- Books Set in Asia: Southern Countries
- Books Set in Australia and New Zealand
- Books Set in Eastern Europe & Russia
- Books That Take Place On an Island
- Books Set in Africa
- Books that Span Multiple Continents
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