17 Best Books Set in Italy (fiction and non-fiction)

There are so many fantastic books to discover set in Italy. I’ve been reading my way across the country for the past several years, and I’ve found some really memorable reads set there.

Whether you’re looking for fiction books set in Italy or non-fiction, classics or contemporary, this list is sure to have something for you. Reading books set in different places is one of my favorite ways to both prepare for an upcoming trip there and to reminisce about it afterward.

So let’s get into these recommendations. As ever, this is far from an exhaustive list, and I’ll continue to add to it as I continue to discover more Italian books that I love.

For ease, I have arranged these Italy book recommendations by location starting from Northern Italy to Southern Italy, including some books set in Sicily. This organizational structure not only allows you to select books based on what part of Italy you will be visiting, but it’s also a nod of acknowledgment to the vast cultural and historical differences between Northern and Southern Italy, not to mention the many, many subcultures, dialects, and cuisines across the country and its islands.

Even if you don’t have an Italy trip on the horizon, pick up one of these books set in Italy and engage in a little armchair travel to this beautiful country.

You can shop my full list of books to read before visiting Italy and also support indie bookstores at Bookshop.org.

Or pin this to reference on your next Italy trip:

Whenever possible, I recommend buying books at local bookshops or through Bookshop.org, because shopping there puts the profits right into the hands of indie bookstores all over the country.

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Books set in Venice

Venice is a truly unique city, both gritty and beautiful, eternal and ephemeral. It’s a city built on water, a city with infinite waterways and no roads, tight alleyways and grand buildings — which are sinking, by the way. I have gotten to visit Venice more than once, and it’s a city worth exploring both in person and through its literature.

The Bookseller of Venice by Giovanni Montanaro

The Bookseller of Venice is a novel only translated in English from Italian in 2024. The author, Giovanni Montanaro, was inspired to write the short novel after the acqua granda of 2019, Venice’s worst flood since 1966. In the Acqua Granda, water levels exceeded 180 cm and resulted in widespread damage to homes and businesses in Venice.

This novel tells the story of Vittorio, who runs a fictional Venetian bookshop called the Moby Dick. Both Vittorio and his shop are fictional, but they are very much inspired by both the beauty and the plight of Venice’s real bookshops during the acqua granda. 

I really loved this novel. It captures so much of the beautiful spirit of Venice as well as its unique challenges. It barely exceeds 100 pages, so it’s a really fast read, but it’s a great peek into what makes Venice so special. Plus, I love that he includes a guide to the real Venice bookstores at the back of the book.

Related: This was one of my favorite reads on my list of books set in bookstores. Check out the complete list for some similar titles to explore.

The City of Falling Angels by John Berendt

The City of Falling Angels is an example of a non-fiction history that’s written in the style of a novel. In it, author John Berendt is investigating the possible causes of the fire that burned down the Fenice Opera House in 1996. 

It does indeed peel back the layers of mystery surrounding the fire, but in so doing, Berendt is also peeling back the layers of Venice itself — its residents, philosophies, traditions, and politics, all from an outsider’s perspective. 

It’s a really interesting read, and if you listen to the audiobook, it’s a bit like binging a true crime podcast. 

Invisible Cities by Italino Calvino 

Invisible Cities is an iconic Italian novel and a popular book in translation in the English speaking world. That said, it’s a pretty abstract novel, and one that requires some readerly patience. 

It’s written as a conversation between Venetian-based explorer Marco Polo and the Emperor Kublai Khan. When asked to describe his city, Marco Polo proceeds to describe 55 different cities, in short prose poems, though as the novel progresses, both Kublai Khan and the reader begin to wonder if he is not describing Venice all along. 

This novel won’t appeal to all readers, as there’s no plot. It’s a novel of themes more than anything, but there is a very quiet beauty in it. 

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Books set in Liguria

Liguria is a coastal region of Italy that is in many ways an extension of the French Riviera. It’s characterized by gorgeous seaside towns built into cliffs that are some the most beautiful towns in Italy. Both Portofino and Cinque Terre are popular seaside resort areas for people vacationing in Italy.

Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter

Beautiful Ruins takes place in 1962 in Porto Vergogna, the fictional sixth and relatively unvisited town next to Cinque Terre. It’s a beautifully told story centering around the lives of a young Italian man with a dream, an American actress with a secret, and a World War II veteran who just wants to write and forget.

All in all, it’s a captivating story that’s well-written and a great read to get you in the mood for visiting Cinque Terre. Of all the books on the list, this might be one of the most enjoyable fiction books set in Italy that I read. I even included it in my list of the best cozy books you can read when you need a mental escape.

The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim

The Enchanted April by Elizabeth Von Arnim is a classic novel set in Italy that is also a delightful piece of escapist literature for wanderlusters. It follows the stories of four English women, all strangers, who decide to split the cost of an Italian villa for a month away from their unique struggles in life. 

While definitely idealized, this novel wonderfully captures that sensation of wonder and awe you can have when you travel. How it can refresh your spirit and your perspective. The ending is a little too tidy (and a bit anti-feminist) for my taste, but overall it’s a thoroughly enjoyable read. 

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Related: Check out my list of recommendations for books set in San Francisco, California, books set in Greece, novels set in Barcelona, and books set in Hawaii.

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Books set in Florence

Located in Italy’s Tuscany region, Florence is famous for its red-shingled roofs and of course, the large central church, the Duomo, featuring a famous Renaissance-era dome designed by Brunelleschi. It’s also famous as the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance, nurturing such historical figures as Leonardo DaVinci, Botticelli, Michelangelo, Machiavelli, Ghiberti, Brunelleschi, and more.

While Florence’s main industry is now tourism, it’s still a well-preserved historic city dripping with romance, history, and art. Read on to find my recommendations for novels set in Florence.

A Room With a View by E.M. Forster

Published in 1908, A Room With a View is your classic Edwardian-era tale of the wealthy white English nationals taking their “Grand Tour” of Europe. It is set primarily in Florence, Italy, where the main character, Miss Lucy Honeychurch, seeks novelty and adventure, tired of her dull life and chaperone.

This book is a quick read and a good one. You’ve got your classic boy-meets-girl narrative, a very shocking and possibly reputation-ruining kiss (VERY scandalous, so I thought I’d include a mature content warning, 😉), murder, and lots of architecture and art. What more could you want from a period novel of the sort?

What I love about A Room With a View is that it’s very grounded in the scenery of Florence, the city Florence was before its primary industry became tourism. You’ll want to read this before visiting Florence and mark all the beautiful places mentioned so you can be sure to appreciate them in person.

Related: A Room With a View is one of my picks for the 50 Best Audible Plus books that are included with your Audible membership.

The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant

The Birth of Venus is a page-turner of a story, immersing you deep in the Florence Renaissance of the late 15th century. The heroine, Alessandra Cecchi, is easy to root for. She’s the passionate, strong-willed daughter of a wealthy textile merchant, and she has big dreams of becoming a painter like the Renaissance painters she admires.

But the political tide is shifting in Florence after the death of Lorenzo de Medici, affecting not just Alessandra’s plans, but her family’s wealth and influence, and the political structure of the entire city. A monk and extremist, Savonarola, is gaining traction as a religious zealot who claims that art is not a glorification of God, as was previously believed, but an act of blasphemy. Under his influence, Florence is becoming an increasingly polarized and turbulent place.

After reading several books written by Italian authors, it was pretty obvious to me this was written by an English writer. Its themes and characters read distinctly English/American, but this didn’t lessen my enjoyment of the novel. It’s fast-paced, exciting, and full of heart.

Overall, it’s a great choice for a novel set in Italy. It’s sure to get you connected to the history of Florence and its most famous Renaissance artists.

Related: Don’t want to overstuff your travel bag with books? Check out my review of the Kindle Paperwhite 10th Generation

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Books set in Rome

Talk about a city that needs no introduction! Rome is the capital of Italy and the birthplace of Western civilization. It’s an enormous, sprawling city, where old is mixed with new. Walking around Rome, you’re all but guaranteed to stumble on some ruin from thousands of years ago, right next to some modern convenience store or trattoria.

I only got to spend a few days in Rome in 2019, but it was a city I immediately knew I’d need to return to and spend much, much more time exploring. Here are some books set in Rome that I loved.

Related: Traveling to Rome soon? Check out my recommendations on the best Rome bookstores to visit.

The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone by Tennessee Williams

Not for the prudish or the faint of heart, The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone is a novella by Tennessee Williams that tells the story of Mrs. Stone, a recently retired American actress who is uncertain what to do with herself now that her husband has died and her own beauty has faded.

She finds herself drifting through life in Rome, where she has taken a private apartment overlooking the famous Spanish Steps. In Rome, she seeks out the company of new friends and takes on a young Roman escort to help her escape her own reality.

It’s an odd story, perhaps, but it is undeniably grounded in the scenery of Rome, and in particular, of the famous Spanish Steps. If you’re not prudish, it’s a great read before visiting Rome.

She Seduced Me: A Love Affair With Rome by Mark Tedesco

She Seduced Me: A Love Affair with Rome is a collection of essays by a former seminary student who has lived and studied in Rome and now continues to visit each year, discovering its lesser-known sites and diving deep into its culture and residents.

I found it to be a really interesting, quick read, and I marked several places that I want to visit on my next trip to Rome (and which I’m kicking myself I didn’t get to see the first time around).

Reading this before your visit to Rome will allow you to see the city with fresh eyes, and remind you to do some exploring of your own and not limit yourself to just the common Rome sightseeing bucket list.

Note: I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I, Claudius by Robert Graves

I, Claudius is a book for the history lover! It’s historical fiction written as the diary of the Roman emperor Tiberius Claudius Nero (aka Claudius), recounting the history of his twisted royal family and his own rather unexpected and unconventional rise to become Emperor of Rome.

Be warned: something I wasn’t aware of before delving into this book is that even at nearly 500 pages, this is part one of two novels. As such, *SPOILER ALERT* Claudius doesn’t actually become emperor until the last couple of pages. You’ll have to pick up the sequel, Claudius the God, to read about his actual rule. I, Claudius focuses primarily on the rules of the three emperors before him, namely Augustus, Tiberius, and Caligula.

Reader’s tip: I recommend printing out a copy of the Julio-Claudian family tree, as it rivals the Olympians in complexity (and everyone seems to have the same name!). I used one as my bookmark and also annotated it throughout the novel to keep track of who’s whom.

You’re likely to find I, Claudius on other lists of the best books set in Italy, but it definitely deserves its place there.

Daisy Miller by Henry James

Daisy Miller is a classic novella by American writer Henry James. Like many of his novels, it focuses on Americans doing their “Grand Tour” of Europe toward the end of the 19th century. The title character, Daisy Miller, is a charming young woman who refuses to abide by the restrictions that social convention placed on young women of the time. 

She boldly flirts with men and frequently spends time with them without an appropriate chaperone. A fellow American man named Winterbourne meets Daisy at a chalet in Switzerland and, intrigued, follows her to Rome, where their story comes to a head in dramatic fashion. 

It’s a quick read and a classic, capturing a time period of American and European cultural history and featuring some prominent sights in Rome that readers will definitely recognize. 

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Related: I love sharing my place-based book lists. Check out my list of recommended books set in Greece, including one series that fans of I, Claudius will love.

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Books set in Naples

Naples is Italy’s third-largest city, with approximately a million residents. It’s the capital city of the Campania region, about 188 km south of Rome, and located under the shadow of Mt. Vesuvius. Naples is famous as the birthplace of pizza and Neapolitan ice cream. It has a reputation as one of Italy’s grittiest cities, with its local pride, dialect, and plenty of gang activity. Plus, it’s a great base for exploring the Amalfi Coast.

Here are some great books set in Naples.

My Brilliant Friend series / Neapolitan Novels by Elena Ferrante

This quatrain book series by the unknown Italian author who goes by the pen name “Elena Ferrante” has gotten a lot of buzz in the last few years, but rightly so. To say the writing is rich, emotional, and stirring is to undersell it. The four books of the My Brilliant Friend series cover the friendship between two young Italian girls growing up in a turbulent neighborhood of Naples in the 1950s. You’ll follow their friendship from childhood through adolescence and into the phases of adulthood, through all the growing together and falling apart. It’s believed to be at least semi-autobiographical, which may explain the writer’s reluctance to reveal her true identity.

HBO has even started making it into a series, but, as always, start with the books. You won’t regret it.

The Lying Life of Adults by Elena Ferrante

I couldn’t help including another by this remarkable author. Elena Ferrante, whoever she is, has become the international voice of Naples in recent years. Her latest, The Lying Life of Adults, again transports the reader to the gritty beauty of Naples life.

Elena Ferrante writes some of the best novels set in Italy, hands down.

You’ll be plunged into the secret lives of the Trada family, as told through the eyes of Giovanna, the family’s teenage daughter on the cusp of womanhood. This book portrays the most inspiring as well as the ugliest aspects of human nature, no matter where you live or where you’re from. It’s so thoroughly a novel for the novel lover, and it will connect you to Naples in a way that just a day trip to Naples never can.

For those reasons, I included this book on the list of my top reads from 2020.

God’s Mountain by Erri De Luca

This short novel is not nearly as well-known in the English-speaking world as Elena Ferrante’s, but it should be. God’s Mountain by Italian author Erri De Luca is quietly, simply, stunning. As with so many Italian novels I’m finding, you can’t let the slow pace or lack of action fool you. This tiny novella carries a palpable heartbeat of life, love, imagination, longing, and sadness.

For a reader who can appreciate subtlety, this is one of my top recommendations for novels set in Italy.

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Travel tip: If you’re a traveling book lover, then a book sleeve is on my list of must-have travel gear.

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Books set in Pompeii

I’ve been fascinated by the town of Pompeii ever since I can remember. Once a thriving Roman trade town, it was famously destroyed in the year 79 AD when the eruption of nearby Mount Vesuvius buried it in 20 ft of ash. Pompeii is an archaeologist’s dream destination; the volcanic ash managed to preserve so much of the city, that its remains give precious insight into ancient Roman life.

Tourists can take guided tours of Pompeii, but even after spending a whole day here, you will only see a small fraction of the fascinating ancient city. Plus, it’s still an active dig site, as about a third of the city is still waiting to be unburied and explored.

A Day of Fire: A Novel of Pompeii, by various authors

A Day of Fire is a novel unlike any other I’ve read!

In this novel, seven different authors who write in various genres each contributed one chapter. Every chapter centers around a different character affected by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius and the burial of Pompeii. In a way, it is a short story collection, but the characters in each story intersect and influence each other’s lives in small, significant ways.

Not surprisingly, I enjoyed some writers’ chapters more than others, but I love the overall idea and impact of this novel. It brings to life the ancient city of Pompeii without overly romanticizing or removing the less-than-palatable parts of Pompeii’s history, like the prolific business of sex trafficking.

While there are so many worthwhile nonfiction accounts of Pompeii, for the fiction and historical fiction lovers I think this book is a great introduction to the city of Pompeii for anyone going to visit the ruins.

Related: Traveling elsewhere in Europe? Don’t miss the real Hamlet Castle in Denmark

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Books set in Sicily

Sicily is a roughly 1,000-sq-mile island off the southern coast of Italy that’s famous for its beautiful beaches, charming mountainside villages, well-preserved archaeological sites, and Sicilian cuisine. It’s a semi-autonomous region of Italy that has its own unique culture, history, and dialect with all the attending local pride from its denizens.

Here are a couple of captivating books that are set in Sicily.

The Silent Duchess by Dacia Maraini

The Silent Duchess by Italian female author Dacia Maraini won the Premio Campiello award when it was published (the Italian equivalent of the National Book Award). It tells the story of an 18th-century Sicilian noblewoman, Marianna Ucria, who grows up both deaf and mute after suffering childhood trauma. As a teenager, she is forced to marry her own elderly uncle. Lonely and silent, Marianna must create a life for herself and her children that feels worthy of living.

The novel is another quiet one, as was Marianna’s life. Though she is deaf and mute, she is a rich and complex character who manages to find and honor her own voice.

This is definitely a book that historical fiction lovers and novel lovers, in general, should read before visiting Sicily.

Related: If you enjoy subtle, literary fiction, I have some great recommendations on my list of books set in Scotland.

From Scratch: A Memoir of Love, Sicily, and Finding Home by Tembi Locke

From Scratch is a memoir written by Black American actress Tembi Locke, telling her story of falling in love with a chef from Sicily. It’s a story of love, loss, finding common ground, and of course, lots and lots of Sicilian food (yes, recipes included!). It’s a quick read, and one to transport you to Sicily through the eyes of an outsider who’s intimately acquainted with the ways of the island and the Sicilian families who have proudly lived there for centuries.

I also included this book in a list of books to read by contemporary Black authors.

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Again, while certainly not comprehensive, I think this is a great starting point for books set in Italy to read before your next trip there.

I haven’t yet read any books set in Milan or Venice, not to mention many of the other regions in Italy. Let me know in the comments, what should I read and include in a follow-up list.

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