Books

Children

Thrillers

Mysteries

Old Rome

(I've just read this book and I can recommend it highly.  It brought me into the 16th century Florentine life, with all it's warts, humanity, politics and art.  A very enjoyable read.  Candida Martinelli)

Introduction

The books featured here are historical novels set in Italy.  I've included some featuring:

• Famous works of art
• Ancient Roman warfare
• World War II in Italy
• 15th Century Italy

Each book is linked via a click on the book cover, to Amazon.com's page for the book.  Some allow you to Search Inside the book.

There you can find excerpts, sometimes links to the first chapter, back cover text, reader comments, reviews, and prices for new and used copies.

Many of these books are available as paperbacks, so be sure to check before deciding one's too expensive.

Cupid and the Silent Goddess by Alan Fisk

From Reviews:  "...captures the atmosphere of sixteenth-century Florence and the world of the artists excellently.  this is a fascinating imaginative reconstruction of the events during the painting of Allegory with Venus and Cupid." Marina Oliver, historical novelist.  "A witty and entertaining romp set in the seedy world of Italian Renaissance artists." Elizabeth Chadwick, award-winning historical novelist.  You can read the first chapter on-line, and reviews from other authors.  The painting on the cover, and described in the book, is by Bronzino and is currently in the collection at the National Gallery in London.  Another look at the painting...

From a Reader Review:  "This true story reads like a novel, fast and full of intrigue. It takes you through the streets of Rome, both in the present as well as 400 years ago. Harr brilliantly explores the science of art history through the eyes of a student, then throws you into a world of art restoration, with the suspense of a murder mystery. It's a book you can't put down from the opening paragraph. Definitely a must read for any interest."  Very positive reviews and high rating!j

From Booklist:  "This intelligent and highly detailed thriller by British author Hewson (A Season for the Dead, 2003) rivals Perez-Reverte's The Flanders Panel (1994) in historical intricacy, complexity of motive, and multileveled storytelling. Masterfully plotted, the novel alternates between present-day and eighteenth-century Venice, following flawed and unwary innocents down the devil's path, tempted by visions of fame, personal glory, and love."

The Second Mrs. Gioconda

From the Publisher:  "The Mona Lisa... Why did Leonardo da Vinci lavish three years on a painting of the second wife of an unimportant merchant when all the nobles of Europe were begging for a portrait by his hand?

No one knows for sure. But this story of Leonardo, his wayward apprentice Salai, and the Duke of Milan's plain young wife, Beatrice d'Este, may hold the clue to the most famous -- and puzzling -- painting of all time."

Under the Eagle

From Booklist:  "It is the year 42 AD, and Centurion Macro, battle-scarred and fearless, is in the heart of Germany with the Second Legion, the toughest in the Roman army. Cato, a new recruit and the newly appointed second-in-command to Macro, will have more to prove than most. In a bloody skirmish with local tribes, Cato gets his first chance to prove that he's more than a callow, privileged youth. As their next campaign takes them to a land of unparalleled barbarity - Britain - a special mission unfolds, thrusting Cato and Macro headlong into a conspiracy that threatens to topple the Emperor himself."

Eagle in the Snow

From Amazon.com:  "Banished to the Empire’s farthest outpost, veteran warrior Paulinus Maximus defends The Wall of Britannia from the constant onslaught of belligerent barbarian tribes. Bravery, loyalty, experience, and success lead to Maximus’ appointment as "General of the West" by the Roman emperor, the ambition of a lifetime. But with the title comes a caveat: Maximus needs to muster and command a single legion to defend the perilous Rhine frontier."

While not set in Rome, it is about the fall of the Roman Empire.  I've more about this book, which was used as inspiration for the film Gladiator, and a profile of Mr. Breem. 

A Thread of Grace

From Publisher's Weekly:  "...chronicles the Italian resistance to the Germans during the last two years of WWII. Three cultures mingle uneasily in Porto Sant'Andrea on the Ligurian coast of northwest Italy—the Italian Jews of the village, headed by the chief rabbi Iacopo Soncini; the Italian Catholics, like Sant'Andrea's priest Don Osvaldo Tomitz, who befriend and shelter the Jews; and the occupying Germans invited by Mussolini's crumbling regime..."

Christ Stopped at Eboli

Reviews of this modern classic: "A kind a gray El Greco beauty." --Lewis Gannett, New York Herald Tribune  "Has been called in turn a diary, an album of sketches, a novelette, a sociological study and a political essay. It has more than a trait of each genre; yet it remains as hard to classify as every beautiful book, or as the man who wrote this one." --The New York Times Book Review  "A sensitive and gifted writer with a great sense of style . . . Perhaps the best thing in [Levi's] book is the detachment by which he avoids sentimentalizing the peasants and at the same time renders their undestroyed feelings for human values." --Alfred Kazin

The Birth of Venus

From Amazon.com: "Sarah Dunant's gorgeous and mesmerizing novel, Birth of Venus, draws readers into a turbulent 15th-century Florence, a time when the lavish city, steeped in years of Medici family luxury, is suddenly besieged by plague, threat of invasion, and the righteous wrath of a fundamentalist monk. Dunant masterfully blends fact and fiction, seamlessly interweaving Florentine history with the coming-of-age story of a spirited 14-year-old girl..."

The Borgia Bride

From Publisher's Weekly: "Against the backdrop of 15th-century Italian internecine feuds, debauchery and Vatican corruption, Kalogridis's latest historical novel (after The Burning Times) chronicles with compelling sweep the story of the ravishing and iron-willed Sancha de Aragon, princess of Naples. Illegitimate daughter to the coldhearted duke of Calabria (briefly king of Naples), she is used to establish ties to the feared and influential House of Borgia when her father betroths her to the younger scion, Jofre..."