Italy with its rich culture and history has been the backdrop and inspiration for many stories throughout history. Whether to prepare for a trip or to just mentally immerse yourself into the country through the pages of a book, here are some recommendations available here at Davenport Public Library! All descriptions are provided by the publisher.
Love & Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch
Lina is spending the summer in Tuscany, but she isn’t in the mood for Italy’s famous sunshine and fairy-tale landscape. She’s only there because it was her mother’s dying wish that she get to know her father. But what kind of father isn’t around for sixteen years? All Lina wants to do is get back home. But then Lina is given a journal that her mom had kept when she lived in Italy. Suddenly Lina’s uncovering a magical world of secret romances, art, and hidden bakeries. A world that inspires Lina, along with the ever-so-charming Ren, to follow in her mother’s footsteps and unearth a secret that has been kept for far too long. It’s a secret that will change everything Lina knew about her mother, her father — and even herself. People come to Italy for love and gelato, someone tells her, but sometimes they discover much more.
Enter the Rome of Eternal, where Elisabetta, Marco, and Sandro grow up as best friends, despite their differences. Elisabetta is a feisty beauty who dreams of becoming a novelist, Marco a handsome cyclist with a secret, and Sandro a Jewish mathematics prodigy. Soon their friendship ripens to romance, and Marco and Sandro vie to win Elisabetta. Meanwhile war threatens the world, and Mussolini leads Italy down a dark path. Harsh restrictions against Italian Jews take legal root, blocking Sandro from finishing his studies. Marco, who works at the local Fascist office, fears that his party is destroying his best friend, but his loyalty is torn. Caught in the middle, Elisabetta struggles to survive as her life crumbles around her. Then the Nazis invade Rome, and a shocking historical event decides the fate of the threesome, once and for all.
Fashion means everything to Violet Luciano; so does finishing design school. When she lands a summer internship at an up-and-coming fashion brand in Rome, she knows she’s got to bring her A game. The interns will be competing against each other: whoever creates the best fashion design will be offered a job at a New York label. Violet is at the top of her class, but she’s one of the only students who’s approaching thirty. Chasing her dream has left her broke and buried in student debt. Winning is the only option. At a café in Rome, Violet accidentally knocks into someone’s table, ruining the man’s laptop and drink. He is understandably irate. Violet buys Matt an apology coffee, but there is instant animosity between them. Later, the interns discover they’ll be staying in the lavish villa of an eccentric professor and at their welcome dinner, Violet discovers that Matt (evil café Matt) is Matteo, the professor’s son. They’re horrified to be living together, and their angry/witty antics carry on through daily run-ins, chic fashion parties and adventures through Rome. Eventually, their mutual dislike begins to give way to undeniable chemistry.
Call Me By Your Name by Andrè Aciman
Andre Aciman’s Call Me by Your Name is the story of a sudden and powerful romance that blossoms between an adolescent boy and a summer guest at his parents’ cliffside mansion on the Italian Riviera. Each is unprepared for the consequences of their attraction, when, during the restless summer weeks, unrelenting currents of obsession, fascination, and desire intensify their passion and test the charged ground between them. Recklessly, the two verge toward the one thing both fear they may never truly find again: total intimacy. It is an instant classic and one of the great love stories of our time.
The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith
In the first volume of Patricia Highsmith’s five-book Ripley series, that we are introduced to the suave Tom Ripley, a young striver seeking to leave behind his past as an orphan bullied for being a “sissy.” Newly arrived in the heady world of Manhattan, Ripley meets a wealthy industrialist who hires him to bring his playboy son, Dickie Greenleaf, back from gallivanting in Italy. Soon Ripley’s fascination with Dickie’s debonair lifestyle turns obsessive as he finds himself enraged by Dickie’s ambivalent affections for Marge, a charming American dilettante, and Ripley begins a deadly game.
SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome by Mary Beard
A prominent classicist explores ancient Rome and how its citizens adapted the notion of imperial rule, invented the concepts of citizenship and nation, and made laws about those traditionally overlooked in history, including women, slaves, and criminals.
This lush guide, featuring more than 350 glorious photographs from National Geographic, showcases the best Italy has to offer from the perspective of two women who have spent their lives reveling in its unique joys. In these illuminating pages, Frances Mayes, the author of Under the Tuscan Sun and many other bestsellers, and New York Times travel writer Ondine Cohane reveal an Italy that only the locals know, filled with top destinations and unforgettable travel experiences in every region. From the colorful coastline of Cinque Terre and the quiet ports of the Aeolian Islands to the Renaissance architecture of Florence and the best pizza in Rome, every section features insider secrets and off-the-beaten-path recommendations (for example, a little restaurant in Piedmont known for its tajarin, a pasta that is the perfect bed for the region’s celebrated truffles). Here are the best places to stay, eat, and tour, paired with the rich history of each city, hillside town, and unique terrain. Along the way, you’ll make stops at the country’s hidden gems–art galleries, local restaurants, little-known hiking trails, spas, and premier spots for R&R. Inspiring and utterly unique, this vivid treasury is a must-have for anyone who wants to experience the best of Italy.
Any more recommendations? Leave them in the comments below!
