From the Alps to the Adriatic, through Ferrara, Mantova, Parma, Cremona, Pavia and Turin. Those who read Helena Attlee's recent Lev's Violin will know something of its historical use, but no... read more
The fragmented recollections of a handful of survivors of the earthquake that struck the northern Friuli in 1976. Their tiny village high in the Julian Alps, beneath the immense karstic mass... read more
Kneale knows the city like few others (viz his Rome: A History in Seven Sackings, pbk £10.99). His writing is also a delight, so his account of lockdown is worth reading.
A woman moves through her lonely days in an Italian city: Lahiri's move to Rome a few years ago must inform this sensitive and observant novel. Written in Italian, the text is translated int... read more
A new collection of short stories by the acclaimed writer who moved to Rome in 2012 and now only writes in Italian. Her many awards include a Pulitzer prize, a Guggenheim Fellowship and a Na... read more
Pieces together three generations of a family, moving between Italy and England, in an attempt to understand what roots and home might mean. Subtle, charming memoir.
The 30th outing for the tireless Brunetti: joy-riders in the Venetian lagoon are linked to more sinister doings... as usual, the glittering surface masks murky depths
Celebrated particularly for its classical statues (qv the excellent recent The Torlonia Marbles), this Roman villa was the C18th creation of Cardinal Albani. It was preserved with its collec... read more
Two men go walking in the Dolomites, but not together; one falls to his death, the other reports the body. Is it coincidence that they knew each other in earlier years, and that one had betr... read more
The C15th house restored by Iris and Antonio Origo in the 1920s and '30s, with Cecil Pinsent's famous garden looking out over the Val d'Orcia to Monte Amiato. By their daughter and granddaug... read more