Best Books set in Northern Italy

Discover the Best Books Set in Northern Italy – Northern Italy has inspired writers for centuries. From the canals of Venice and the Renaissance palaces of Florence to the Alpine valleys of the Aosta Valley and the historic cities of Turin and Milan, the region has served as the backdrop for some of Europe’s most memorable novels and literary classics.

This guide brings together some of the best books set in northern Italy, ranging from famous classics such as A Room with a View, The Moon and the Bonfires, and The Name of the Rose to modern literary fiction like The Eight Mountains, Quiet Chaos, or The Solitude of Prime Numbers. Some of these books take place in well-known cities such as Venice, Florence, and Milan, while others explore the mountains, villages, and countryside of regions like Liguria, Piedmont, and Friuli.

Whether you are planning a trip to northern Italy, looking for historical novels set in the region, or simply enjoy stories rooted in real places, these books offer a literary journey through one of Europe’s most fascinating regions.

Discover how Italy is portrayed in books.

Explore the Best Books set in Rome.

Explore the Best Books set in Naples and Southern Italy.

Discover the Best Books set in Sicily and Sardinia.

Venice has inspired writers for centuries, from Thomas Mann’s Death in Venice to the modern crime novels of Donna Leon. The wider Veneto region also appears in several historical and literary works set in places such as Verona and the Asiago plateau.

 

Featured Books in and around Venice

 

Stabat Mater by Tiziano Scarpa

Stabat Mater (2009) by Tiziano Scarpa is a compelling historical novella set in early-18th-century Venice, one of Northern Italy’s most atmospheric cities. It follows Cecilia, a gifted young violinist who grows up in the Ospedale della Pietà orphanage, where girls are trained as musicians and perform unseen behind a grille, until the arrival of the composer Antonio Vivaldi changes her world. Winner of the Premio Strega, Italy’s most prestigious literary prize, the novel offers a powerful glimpse into Venetian musical life and the hidden voices of its young performers.

• Setting: Venice
• Publication: 2009
• Original title: Stabat Mater
• 176 pages

Read the full book page: Stabat Mater by Tiziano Scarpa

 

In Lucia’s Eyes by Arthur Japin

In Lucia’s Eyes (2003) by Arthur Japin is a gripping historical novel set in the 18th century, beginning in the village of Pasiano near Venice. The story follows Lucia, the first love of Giacomo Casanova, whose life is transformed after smallpox leaves her scarred, leading her on an unexpected journey from rural Italy to Amsterdam. Based on Casanova’s own diaries and winner of the Libris Literature Prize, the novel offers a poignant reimagining of a famous love story from Lucia’s perspective.

• Setting: Amsterdam; Pasiano di Pordenone
• Original title: Een schitterend gebrek
• Publication: 2003
• 256 pages

Read the full book page: In Lucia’s Eyes by Arthur Japin

Death at La Fenice by Donna Leon

Death at La Fenice (1992) by Donna Leon is the first novel in the internationally acclaimed Commissario Guido Brunetti crime series, set in the atmospheric canals and opera houses of Venice in Northern Italy. When a renowned German conductor is poisoned during an opera performance at the famous Teatro La Fenice, Brunetti must unravel a web of rivalries and hidden motives. Blending a gripping mystery with vivid portraits of Venetian life, this bestselling novel is an ideal read for anyone drawn to crime fiction set in Italy.

• Setting: Venice
• Publication: 1992
• 288 pages

Read the full book page: Death at La Fenice by Donna Leon

Death in Venice by Thomas Mann

Death in Venice (1912) by Thomas Mann, Nobel Prize laureate in Literature, is a classic novella set on the Venice Lido in Northern Italy, where a German writer becomes obsessed with a young boy while a cholera epidemic quietly spreads through the city. Renowned for its exquisite prose and haunting atmosphere, the story captures both the grandeur of Venice and the inner turmoil of its protagonist. This influential work of European literature was famously adapted into a film by Luchino Visconti in 1971.

• Setting: Venice (Lido)
• Publication: 1912
• Original title: Der Tod in Venedig
• 88 pages

Read the full book page: Death in Venice by Thomas Mann

Other Notable Books in and around Venice

 

Venice: The Lion, the City and the Water by Cees Nooteboom

• Setting: Venice
• Publication: 2019
• Original title: Venetië-de leeuw, de stad en het water.
• 304 pages

 

The Tempest by Juan Manuel de Prada

• Setting: Venice
• Publication: 1997
• Original title: La tempestad
• 341 pages

 

The Comfort of Strangers by Ian McEwan

• Setting: Venice (an unnamed city resembling Venice)
• Publication: 1981
• 128 pages

 

Territorial Rights by Muriel Spark

• Setting: Venice
• Publication: 1979
• 240 pages

 

Memorial by Ferdinando Camon

• Setting: Veneto
• Publication: 1978
• Original title: Un altare per la madre
• 122 pages
• Notable: winner of the Premio Strega 1978

 

One Year on the High Plateau by Emilio Lussu

• Also published in English as A Soldier on the Southern Front
• Setting: The Asiago plateau (Veneto)
• Publication: 1938
• Original title: Un anno sull’altipiano
• 278 pages

 

Journey by Moonlight by Antal Szerb

• Setting: Various locations in Italy: Venice, Rome, Foligno, Siena, Gubbio, etc.
• Publication: 1937
• Original title: Utas és holdvilág
• 320 pages

 

Casanova’s Homecoming by Arthur Schnitzler

• Setting: Venice
• Publication: 1918
• Original title: Casanova’s Heimfahrt
• 212 pages

 

The Wings of the Dove by Henry James

• Setting: Venice
• Publication: 1888
• 399 pages

 

The Aspern Papers by Henry James

• Setting: Venice
• Publication: 1888
• 106 pages

 

The Monk’s Wedding by Conrad Ferdinand Meyer

• Setting: Verona (Veneto)
• Publication: 1884
• Original title: Die Hochzeit des Mönchs
• 144 pages

 

Confessions of an Italian by Ippolito Nievo

• Setting: mainly in the Veneto, particularly around Fossalta di Portogruaro
• Publication: 1867
• Original title: Le confessioni d’un italiano
• 928 pages

The Last Letters of Jacopo Ortis by Ugo Foscolo

• Setting: Mainly a village in Colli Euganei, near Padua (Veneto); other locations in Italy such as Florence, Milan, Genoa, Ventimiglia, etc.
• Publication: 1798
• Original title: Ultime lettere di Jacopo Ortis
• 160 pages

Florence and the Tuscan countryside have long fascinated writers, from Renaissance historical novels to modern literary fiction. These books capture the art, landscapes, and turbulent history of one of Italy’s most culturally influential regions. Discover some of the best books set in the northern Italian region of Tuscany.

 

Featured Books in and around Florence

 

Story of My People by Edoardo Nesi

Story of My People (2010) by Edoardo Nesi is a powerful blend of memoir, reportage, and social commentary set in Prato, in Northern Italy’s textile region of Tuscany. Through the story of his family’s textile factory and its forced sale, Nesi explores how globalisation transformed the once-thriving local industry and reshaped the community. Winner of the Premio Strega, Italy’s most prestigious literary award, the book offers a compelling and deeply personal portrait of economic and social change in modern Italy.

• Setting: Prato (Tuscany)
• Publication: 2010
• Original title: Storia della mia gente
• 178 pages

 Read the full book page: Story of My People by Edoardo Nesi

Galileo’s Daughter by Dava Sobel

Galileo’s Daughter (1999) by Dava Sobel is a fascinating historical biography set in Florence in Northern Italy, exploring the relationship between the Renaissance scientist Galileo Galilei and his illegitimate daughter, a nun known as Maria Celeste. Based largely on her surviving letters, the book illuminates Galileo’s scientific discoveries and the personal world surrounding them. Blending history, science, and family drama, this acclaimed work offers an intimate portrait of one of Italy’s most famous figures and the city where he lived and worked.

• Setting: Florence
• Publication: 1999
• Original title: Galileo’s Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith, and Love
• 432 pages

Read the full book page: Galileo’s Daughter by Dava Sobel

The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje

The English Patient (1992) by Michael Ondaatje is a beautifully written novel partly set in a ruined villa in Fiesole, near Florence in Northern Italy, during the final months of the Second World War. As a badly burned and mysterious patient slowly recounts his past, the lives of four people sheltering in the villa become deeply intertwined. Winner of the Booker Prize and the Golden Man Booker, this acclaimed novel combines romance, history, and wartime drama, and was famously adapted into an Oscar-winning film in 1996.

• Setting: Fiesole (Tuscany); Egypt
• Publication: 1992
• 305 pages

Read the full book page: The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

Catch-22 (1961) by Joseph Heller is a darkly comic anti-war classic largely set on Pianosa, a small island in the Tuscan Archipelago off Northern Italy, where American airmen are stationed during the Second World War. The novel follows the bombardier Yossarian as he struggles to survive a war governed by absurd and contradictory military rules. Famous for introducing the term “catch-22” into the English language, Heller’s debut novel is widely regarded as one of the great works of twentieth-century American literature.

• Setting: Pianosa, in the Tuscan Archipelago (Italy)
• Publication: 1961
• 544 pages

Read the full book page: Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

Family Chronicle by Vasco Pratolini

Family Chronicle (1947) by Vasco Pratolini is a poignant autobiographical novel set largely in Florence in Northern Italy, tracing the bond between two brothers separated in childhood and reunited as adults. Through their contrasting upbringings, Pratolini offers a moving portrait of family, memory, and social life in twentieth-century Italy. Widely regarded as one of the author’s most touching works, the novel remains a classic of modern Italian literature.

• Setting: Florence and Rome
• Publication: 1947
• Original title: Cronaca familiare
• 136 pages

Read the full book page: Family Chronicle by Vasco Pratolini

Agostino by Alberto Moravia

Agostino (1944) by Alberto Moravia is a powerful coming-of-age novella set on the Tuscan coast in Northern Italy, where a boy’s carefree summer is disrupted when he begins to confront the complexities of adulthood. As Agostino drifts away from his mother and falls in with a group of local boys, he faces uncomfortable truths about class, sexuality, and growing up. Written by one of Italy’s most influential twentieth-century authors, the novel is a poignant and sharply observed portrait of adolescence.

• Setting: Versilia (Tuscany)
• Publication: 1944
• Original title: Agostino
• 128 pages

Read the full book page: Agostino by Alberto Moravia

A Room with a View by E. M. Forster

A Room with a View (1908) by E. M. Forster is a beloved classic that begins in Florence and the hills of Fiesole in Northern Italy, where two young English travellers meet during a Grand Tour. As Lucy Honeychurch explores the art and landscapes of Tuscany, she finds herself torn between social convention and her growing feelings for the unconventional George Emerson. Celebrated for its romance and subtle social critique, the novel ranks among the great English-language works of the twentieth century and inspired the acclaimed 1985 film adaptation.

• Setting: Florence & Fiesole (Italy); Surrey (England)
• Publication: 1908
• 204 pages

Read the full book page: A Room with a View by E. M. Forster

 

Other Notable Books in and around Florence

Watching Over Her by Jean-Baptiste Andrea

• Setting: Mainly Florence (Tuscany); also, Rome and Sicily
• Publication: 2023
• Original title: Veiller sur elle
• 368 pages
• Notable: winner of the Prix Goncourt in 2023

 

Swimming to Elba by Silvia Avallone

• Setting: Piombino, Elba (Tuscany)
• Publication: 2010
• Original title: Acciaio
• 320 pages
• Notable: winner of the Campiello Prize and the Flaiano Prize.

 

Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant

• Setting: Florence (Tuscany)
• Publication: 2003
• 448 pages

 

A Tuscan Childhood: A Memoir by Kinta Beevor

• Setting: Aulla (Tuscany)
• Publication: 1993
• 320 pages

 

Innocence by Penelope Fitzgerald

• Setting: Florence (Tuscany)
• Publication: 1986
• 368 pages

 

The Underground by Mario Tobino

• Setting: Viareggio (Tuscany)
• Publication: 1962
• Original title: Il clandestino
• 419 pages
• Notable: winner of the Premio Strega in 1962

 

Bébo’s Girl by Carlo Cassola

• Setting: Monteguidi (Valdelsa, Tuscany)
• Publication: 1960
• Original title: La Ragazza di Bube
• 256 pages

 

Up at the Villa by William Somerset Maugham

• Setting: Florence (Tuscany)
• Publication: 1941
• 224 pages

 

Eyes Shut by Federigo Tozzi

• Setting: Tuscany (the countryside around Siena: Radda)
• Publication: 1919
• Original title: Con gli occhi chiusi
• 171 pages

 

The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi

• Setting: Tuscany
• Publication: 1881-1882
• Original title: Le avventure di Pinocchio. Storia di un burattino
• 188 pages

 

Romola by George Eliot

• Setting: Florence (Tuscany)
• Publication: 1862-1863
• 443 pages

Milan and the surrounding region of Lombardy appear in novels ranging from historical classics to modern literary fiction. Many of these books explore the history, politics, social changes, and cultural life of Italy’s most important northern metropolis.

 

Featured Books in and around Milan

 

M: Son of the Century by Antonio Scurati

M: Son of the Century (2018) by Antonio Scurati is an ambitious historical novel set largely in Milan, Rome, and other locations in Northern Italy, tracing the rise of Benito Mussolini and the birth of Italian fascism in the turbulent years after the First World War. Written as a “documentary novel” that incorporates real historical sources, it vividly depicts the political violence and social upheaval that led to Mussolini’s seizure of power. Winner of the Premio Strega, Italy’s most prestigious literary award, the book became an international bestseller and the first volume in Scurati’s acclaimed series on Mussolini.

• Setting: Milan, Rome, and other places in northern Italy – also Fiume (Rijeka) in Croatia.
• Publication: 2018
• Original title: M. Il figlio del secolo
• 784 pages

Read the full book page: M: Son of the Century by Antonio Scurati

Quiet Chaos by Sandro Veronesi

Quiet Chaos (Caos calmo, 2005) by Sandro Veronesi is a reflective novel set in Milan in Northern Italy, where a grieving father spends his days sitting on a bench outside his daughter’s school after the sudden death of his partner. As friends, colleagues, and strangers visit him there, their conversations gradually reveal deeper questions about grief, success, and the meaning of life. Winner of the Premio Strega, Italy’s most prestigious literary prize, the novel was later adapted into a film starring Nanni Moretti.

• Setting: Milan
• Publication: 2005
• Original title: Caos calmo
• 432 pages

Read the full book page: Quiet Chaos by Sandro Veronesi

A Very Cold Winter by Fausta Cialente

A Very Cold Winter (1966) by Fausta Cialente is a moving novel set in post-war Milan in Northern Italy, during the harsh winter of 1946–1947. It follows Camilla and a group of women struggling to survive in a city devastated by the Second World War, where resilience, solidarity, and hope emerge from hardship. Often regarded as a forgotten classic of Italian literature, the novel offers a powerful portrait of everyday life in Italy’s difficult post-war years.

• Setting: Milan
• Original title: Un inverno freddissimo
• Publication: 1966
• 296 pages

Read the full book page: A Very Cold Winter by Fausta Cialente

Other Notable Books Set in Milan and Lombardy

 

The Etruscan Smile by José Luis Sampedro

• Setting: Milan
• Publication: 1985
• Original title: La sonrisa etrusca
• 352 pages

 

The Dwarf by Pär Lagerkvist

• Setting: Milan
• Publication: 1944
• Original title: Dvärgen
• 240 pages
• Notable: the author received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1951.

 

The Patriot (The Little World of the Past) by Antonio Fogazzaro

• Setting: Valsolda at Lake Lugano (Lombardy)
• Publication: 1895
• Original title: Piccolo mondo antico
• 300 pages

Teresa by Neera (Anna Radius Zuccari)

• Setting: Cremona (Po Valley, Lombardy)
• Publication: 1886
• Original title: Teresa
• 214 pages

 

The Betrothed by Alessandro Manzoni

• Setting: Lombardy: Lecco, Milan, Monza
• Publication: 1827
• Original title: I promessi sposi
• 704 pages

 

The Marquise of O by Heinrich von Kleist

• Setting: the town ‘M’ in Northern Italy (likely in Lombardy or Piedmont)
• Publication: 1808
• Original title: Die Marquise von O….
• 320 pages

Turin and the wider region of Piedmont have produced some of Italy’s most important modern writers, including Primo Levi, Cesare Pavese, and Umberto Eco. The books set here often explore themes such as memory, war, identity, and life in northern Italy during the twentieth century.

 

Featured Books in Turin and Piedmont

 

The Solitude of Prime Numbers by Paolo Giordano

The Solitude of Prime Numbers (2008) by Paolo Giordano is a poignant novel set in Turin in Northern Italy, following two teenagers whose lives become quietly intertwined. Marked by childhood trauma, Alice and Mattia struggle with isolation and connection, much like the mathematical “twin primes” that inspire the book’s title. Winner of the Premio Strega, Italy’s most prestigious literary prize, Giordano’s debut novel became an international bestseller and was later adapted into a film.

• Setting: Turin
• Publication: 2008
• Original title: La solitudine dei numeri primi
• 288 pages

Read the full book page: The Solitude of Prime Numbers by Paolo Giordano

The Chimera by Sebastiano Vassalli

The Chimera (1990) by Sebastiano Vassalli is a powerful historical novel set in Piedmont in Northern Italy, around the city of Novara and the fictional village of Zardino. It tells the tragic story of Antonia, a beautiful and independent young woman whose difference lead to suspicion, persecution, and ultimately a witch trial in seventeenth-century Italy. Winner of the Premio Strega, the novel is widely regarded as Vassalli’s masterpiece and a compelling portrait of superstition, injustice, and rural life in early modern Italy.

• Setting: Novara and the fictional village of Zardino (Piedmont).
• Publication: 1990
• Original title: La chimera
• 314 pages

Read the full book page: The Chimera by Sebastiano Vassalli

The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco

The Name of the Rose (1980) by Umberto Eco is a bestselling historical mystery novel set in a fourteenth-century monastery in Northern Italy, inspired by the dramatic setting of the Sacra di San Michele in Piedmont. As a series of mysterious deaths unsettles the abbey, the Franciscan friar William of Baskerville starts to investigate and uncovers a labyrinth of secrets, theology, and forbidden knowledge. Winner of the Premio Strega and an international literary sensation, Umberto Eco’s novel brilliantly combines a gripping murder mystery with rich medieval history and philosophy.

• Setting: Northern Italy (Piedmont).
• Publication: 1980
• Original title: Il nome della rosa
• 592 pages

Read the full book page: The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco

The Periodic Table by Primo Levi

The Periodic Table (1975) by Primo Levi is a remarkable collection of interconnected stories rooted largely in Turin and the Piedmont region of Northern Italy, where Levi grew up and studied chemistry. Each chapter, named after a chemical element, blends science, memory, and history as Levi reflects on his youth, the rise of Fascism, and the experiences that shaped his life. Widely praised for its originality, the book was once named the best science book ever written by the Royal Institution and remains one of Levi’s most celebrated works.

• Setting: various places in northern Italy, including Turin, the Piedmont Alps, Milan, the Fossoli di Carpi transit camp; Auschwitz.
• Publication: 1975
• Original title: Il sistema periodico
• 256 pages

Read the full book page: The Periodic Table by Primo Levi

Family Lexicon by Natalia Ginzburg

Family Lexicon (1963) by Natalia Ginzburg is an intimate and moving portrait of family life in Turin in Northern Italy during the turbulent decades before, during, and after the Second World War. Through memories and conversations, Ginzburg captures the everyday life of an intellectual Jewish family living under Fascism. Winner of the Premio Strega, the novel is widely regarded as a modern classic of Italian literature.

• Setting: Turin, Pizzoli, Rome
• Publication: 1963
• Original title: Lessico famigliare
• 224 pages

Read the full book page: Family Lexicon by Natalia Ginzburg

The Moon and the Bonfires by Cesare Pavese

The Moon and the Bonfires (1949) by Cesare Pavese is a reflective novel set in the vineyard-covered hills of Piedmont in Northern Italy, where a man returns after the Second World War to the village of his childhood. As he reconnects with old friends and revisits the landscapes of his youth, memories of poverty, war, and lost love resurface. Widely regarded as a modern classic of Italian literature, the novel offers a deeply evocative meditation on memory, belonging, and the enduring pull of place.

• Setting: Canelli, Santo Stefano Belbo (Piedmont).
• Publication: 1949
• Original title: La luna e i falò
• 176 pages

Read the full book page: The Moon and the Bonfires by Cesare Pavese

Other Notable Books set in Piedmont

 

A Private Matter by Beppe Fenoglio

• Setting: Alba (Piedmont)
• Publication: 1963
• Original title: Una questione privata
• 176 pages

 

A Silence Shared by Lalla Romano

• Setting: Piedmont
• Publication: 1957
• Original title: Tetto Murato
• 176 pages

 

Bellarion the Fortunate by Rafael Sabatini

• Setting: Montferrat (Piedmont) and Milan
• Publication: 1926
• 330 pages

 

Featured Books set in Genoa and Liguria

 

The Ligurian coast, with its port city of Genoa and picturesque villages along the Italian Riviera, provides the backdrop for a wide range of novels. From philosophical fables to modern literary fiction, these books capture the unique atmosphere of this northern Italian region.

 

La Superba by Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer

 La Superba (2013) by Dutch author Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer is a vivid and provocative novel set in Genoa, the historic port city of Northern Italy, whose nickname gives the book its title. Through the experiences of a writer who becomes immersed in the city’s labyrinthine streets, bars, and hidden corners, the novel explores both the beauty and the darker realities of modern urban life. Winner of the Libris Literature Prize, this inventive and genre-blending book offers a striking portrait of contemporary Genoa and its complex social landscape.

• Setting: Genoa
• Publication: 2013
• Original title: La Superba
• 416 pages

Read the full book page: La Superba by Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer

Call Me by Your Name by André Aciman

 Call Me by Your Name (2007) by André Aciman is a tender coming-of-age novel set on the Italian Riviera in Northern Italy, where a teenage boy develops a gay love relationship with an American graduate student spending the summer with his family.  Against the backdrop of sun-drenched coastal landscapes and quiet Italian towns, their brief but intense relationship unfolds. An international bestseller, the novel gained worldwide fame through its acclaimed 2017 film adaptation starring Timothée Chalamet.

• Setting: Bordighera, Rome.
• Publication: 2007
• 256 pages

Read the full book page: Call Me by Your Name by André Aciman

The Baron in the Trees by Italo Calvino

 The Baron in the Trees (1957) by Italo Calvino is a philosophical novel set in Liguria on the northern Italian coast around the year 1800. It tells the story of Cosimo, a young nobleman who, in an act of youthful defiance, decides to spend the rest of his life living among the trees. From his unusual vantage point above the world, Cosimo observes society, love, and the ideas of the Enlightenment while embarking on a lifetime of remarkable adventures. Winner of the Premio Viareggio, the novel is one of Calvino’s most beloved works and forms part of his celebrated Our Ancestors trilogy.

• Setting: Sanremo (Ombrosa), Liguria.
• Publication: 1957
• Original title: Il barone rampante
• 288 pages

Read the full book page: The Baron in the Trees by Italo Calvino

The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim

 The Enchanted April (1922) by Elizabeth von Arnim is a charming novel set on the Italian Riviera in Northern Italy, where four English women escape their everyday lives to spend a spring month in a castle near Portofino. Surrounded by sunlit gardens and Mediterranean beauty, their shared holiday gradually transforms their friendships and outlook on life. This beloved classic helped popularise Portofino as a glamorous holiday destination.

• Setting: Portofino
• Publication: 1922
• 174 pages

Read the full book page: The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim

Other Notable Books set in Genoa and Liguria

 

Zundel’s Exit by Markus Werner

• Setting: Genoa
• Publication: 1984
• Original title: Zündels Abgang
• 149 pages

 

Ferrara and the wider region of Emilia-Romagna appear in several important novels that explore Italian society, art, and history. Many of these works focus on the cultural life of northern Italian cities and the experiences of their inhabitants during the twentieth century.

 

How to Be Both by Ali Smith

 How to Be Both (2014) by Ali Smith is an inventive and award-winning novel partly set in Ferrara in Northern Italy, home to the Renaissance artist Francesco del Cossa and the famous frescoes of the Palazzo Schifanoia. Interweaving a contemporary story with a historical narrative, the book explores art, memory, gender, and loss across centuries. Winner of the Costa Book Award and the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction, Smith’s novel is celebrated for its bold structure and imaginative storytelling.

• Setting: Ferrara (Italy) and Cambridge (United Kingdom)
• Publication: 2014
• 336 pages

Read the full book page: How to Be Both by Ali Smith

The Garden of the Finzi-Continis by Giorgio Bassani

 The Garden of the Finzi-Continis (1962) by Giorgio Bassani is a poignant novel set in Ferrara in Northern Italy, where a young man becomes enthralled by the wealthy and secluded Jewish family Finzi-Contini and their beautiful daughter Micòl. Against the backdrop of the late 1930s, the story evokes a vanished world as Italy’s Fascist racial laws gradually threaten the lives of the city’s Jewish community. Winner of the Premio Viareggio, the novel is widely regarded as a modern classic of Italian literature.

• Setting: Ferrara (Emilia-Romagna)
• Publication: 1962
• Original title: Il giardino dei Finzi-Contini
• 200 pages

Read the full book page: The Garden of the Finzi-Continis by Giorgio Bassani

The Charterhouse of Parma by Stendhal

• Setting: Parma (Emilia-Romagna); Lake Como (Lombardy)
• Publication: 1839
• Original title: La Chartreuse de Parme
• 520 pages

Located at the crossroads of Italian, Austrian, and Slavic cultures, Trieste and the wider region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia have inspired many remarkable works of literature. These books often reflect the region’s complex history and its role in the dramatic events of the twentieth century.

 

Featured Books set in and around Trieste and Friuli

 

Rombo by Esther Kinsky

Rombo (2022) is a powerful novel set in the mountain villages of Friuli in North-Eastern Italy, where the devastating 1976 earthquake reshaped both the landscape and the lives of its inhabitants. Through the voices of several villagers, the book reflects on memory, loss, and the fragile relationship between people and place. Written by German author Esther Kinsky, the novel is praised for its poetic and deeply atmospheric storytelling.

• Setting: Friuli (Friuli-Venezia Giulia)
• Publication: 2022
• Original title: Rombo
• 232 pages

Read the full book page: Rombo by Esther Kinsky

Trieste by Daša Drndić

Trieste (2007) by Croatian author Daša Drndić is a powerful documentary novel set in Trieste and the border region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia in Northern Italy, confronting the legacy of the Second World War and the persecution of Jews. Through the story of an elderly woman searching for her son, the novel interweaves personal memory with historical documents, photographs, and the names of Holocaust victims.

• Setting: Gorizia, Trieste (Friuli-Venezia Giulia)
• Publication: 2007
• Original title: Sonnenschein
• 368 pages

Read the full book page: Trieste by Daša Drndić

A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway

A Farewell to Arms (1929) by Ernest Hemingway (winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954) is a classic First World War novel set largely on the Italian Front in northern Italy, moving between places such as Gorizia, Milan, and the lakeside town of Stresa on Lake Maggiore. The story follows an American ambulance driver who falls in love with a British nurse while witnessing the chaos and disillusionment of war. Widely regarded as one of the greatest war novels of the twentieth century, the book draws on Hemingway’s own wartime experiences in Italy.

• Setting: Gorizia, Milan, Friuli, and Stresa (Northern Italy); the Isonzo Front (Slovenia); Montreux and Lausanne (Switzerland).
• Publication: 1929
• 288 pages

Read the full book page: A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway

Zeno’s Conscience by Italo Svevo

Zeno’s Conscience (1923) by Italo Svevo is a modernist masterpiece set in the city of Trieste in Northern Italy, presented as the memoirs of the businessman Zeno Cosini. Through his reflections on his tobacco addiction, marriage, family, and psychoanalysis, the novel offers a sharp and often humorous portrait of early twentieth-century life in Trieste. Now regarded as one of the great classics of Italian literature, the book gained international recognition with the support of fellow writer James Joyce.

• Setting: Trieste
• Publication: 1923
• Original title: La coscienza di Zeno
• 508 pages

Read the full book page: Zeno’s Conscience by Italo Svevo

Other Notable Books Set in Friuli

 

Army of the Lost Rivers by Carlo Sgorlon

• Setting: Carnia (Friuli)
• Publication: 1983
• Original title: L’armata dei fiumi perduti
• 290 pages
• Notable: winner of the Premio Strega in 1985

 

The Days of His Grace by Eyvind Johnson

• Setting: Aquileia (Friuli-Venezia Giulia)
• Publication: 1960
• Original title: Hans nådes tid
• 319 pages
• Notable: the author received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1974.

South Tyrol, a bilingual region shaped by both Italian and Austrian history, forms the setting for several powerful novels about identity, language, and political conflict. Many of these works explore the tensions and transformations experienced by the region during the twentieth century.

 

I’m Staying Here by Marco Balzano

 I’m Staying Here (2018) by Marco Balzano is a moving historical novel set in South Tyrol in Northern Italy, centred on the mountain village of Curon Venosta (Graun im Vinschgau). Told through the voice of a village teacher, the story reveals how Fascism, war, and political conflict reshaped the lives of the region’s German-speaking community in the twentieth century. Inspired by the real submerged village whose church tower still rises from Lake Resia (Reschensee), the novel won several literary awards, including the Premio Bagutta.

• Setting: Curon Venosta – Graun im Vinschgau (South Tyrol –Alto Adige)
• Publication: 2018
• Original title: Resto qui
• 304 pages

Read the full book page: I’m Staying Here by Marco Balzano

Eva Sleeps by Francesca Melandri

• Setting: Bolzano (South Tyrol – Alto Adige)
• Publication: 2010
• Original title: Eva dorme
• 352 pages

 

Casanova in Bolzano by Sándor Márai

• Setting: Bolzano (South Tyrol – Alto Adige)
• Publication: 1940
• Original title: Vendégjáték Bolzanóban
• 294 pages

The Aosta Valley, surrounded by some of the highest peaks in the Alps, has inspired novels that explore life in the mountains and the relationships between people and the landscape. These books often reflect the solitude, beauty, and harshness of alpine life.

 

The Eight Mountains by Paolo Cognetti

The Eight Mountains (2016) by Paolo Cognetti is a deeply atmospheric novel set in the Aosta Valley in Northern Italy, where a city boy from Milan forms a lifelong friendship with a local boy in a remote Alpine village. As their lives take different directions, the mountains remain a powerful symbol of memory, friendship, and belonging. Winner of the Premio Strega and the Prix Médicis étranger, the novel became an international bestseller and was later adapted into an acclaimed film in 2022.

• Setting: Grana (Graines) – Brusson (Aosta Valley – Valle d’Aosta)
• Publication: 2016
• Original title: Le otto montagne
• 224 pages

Read the full book page: The Eight Mountains by Paolo Cognetti

The Marche region, located along Italy’s Adriatic coast, appears in several novels that portray life and social change in twentieth-century Italy.

 

The Worldwide Machine by Paolo Volponi

• Setting: Mainly Frontone (Marche), Rome, Pergola
• Publication: 1965
• Original title: La macchina mondiale
• 208 pages

 

A Woman by Sibilla Aleramo

• Setting: Mainly Civitanova Marche; also Milan and Rome
• Publication: 1906
• Original title: Una donna
• 236 pages

Perugia and the surrounding region of Umbria provide the setting for novels ranging from literary fiction to crime stories.

 

Ratking by Michael Dibdin

 Ratking (1988) by Michael Dibdin is a gripping crime novel set in Perugia in Northern Italy, where Italian police inspector Aurelio Zen is sent to investigate the kidnapping of a wealthy industrialist. As Zen digs deeper, he uncovers a web of family intrigue, political influence, and hidden motives within the powerful Miletti family. Winner of the Gold Dagger Award for Best Crime Novel, this fast-paced thriller is the first in Dibdin’s acclaimed Aurelio Zen series.

• Setting: Perugia, Umbria
• Publication: 1988
• Original title: Ratking
• 266 pages

Read the full book page: Ratking by Michael Dibdin