This week’s topic for Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl) is “Books Set in/Take Place During X”. We can choose the time or place.
I have chosen ten books set in Italy and to narrow things down, they are all books that a) were published at least 60 years ago and b) have been reviewed on my blog.
1. Prince of Foxes by Samuel Shellabarger
From my review: “Andrea and Belli have a number of adventures involving battles, duels, clever disguises, last-minute escapes, sieges, miracles and all sorts of trickery and deception.”
2. Romola by George Eliot
From my review: “I was gripped by the plot, fascinated by the characters and loved the portrayal of Florence, its buildings, its art and culture and its people.”
3. The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim
From my review: “The images of Italy in the spring were beautifully described, with the sun shining and the flowers bursting into bloom. I defy anybody to read this story and not want to immediately book a trip to Italy this April!”
4. Flight of the Falcon by Daphne du Maurier
From my review: “In The Flight of the Falcon she succeeds in making Ruffano, with its medieval streets, historic churches and ducal palace, seem beautiful and picturesque but claustrophobic and forbidding at the same time.”
5. The Leopard by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa
From my review: “…a beautifully written book and although it’s surprisingly short, there’s so much packed into its pages I think a re-read would be necessary to be able to fully appreciate it.”
6. Bellarion by Rafael Sabatini
From my review: “…a world of warring city states, tyrannical dukes and beautiful princesses, of powerful condottieri and bands of mercenary soldiers, of sieges and battles, poisonings and conspiracies.”
7. Amours de Voyage by Arthur Hugh Clough
From my review: “Amours de Voyage follows a group of people who are visiting Italy during the political turmoil surrounding the fall of the short-lived Roman Republic in 1849. Their story is told in the form of letters written in hexameter verse and divided into five cantos.”
8. Death in Venice by Thomas Mann
From my review: “Mann’s descriptions of Venice are beautifully written, even though at the time of Gustav von Aschenbach’s arrival the weather is dark, gloomy and oppressive, matching the overall mood of the story.”
9. A Sicilian Romance by Ann Radcliffe
From my review: “…everything you would expect from a gothic novel: An old castle with crumbling staircases and dark, dusty chambers, locked doors, family secrets, lonely monasteries, bandits, shipwrecks, dungeons and underground tunnels, thunder and lightning, and almost anything else you can think of.”
10. A Room with a View by E.M. Forster
From my review: “The beginning of the book with the portrayal of the English in Italy made me think of The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim and as for the descriptions of Italy itself, they were beautiful and vivid.”
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Have you read any of these? Are there any other classic novels set in Italy you can recommend?
She Reads Novels 
I’ve only read A Room with a view and The Leopard, everything sounds wonderful!
I enjoyed all of them!
What a great list! A Room With a View is one of my most favorite books. And I also really enjoyed reading Enchanted April. 😀
I loved A Room With a View too. I need to read more of Forster’s books – I think I’ve only read that one and Howards End.
Oh I loved Enchanted April. Great idea for this week’s theme.
The Enchanted April is a lovely book – I’m glad you liked it as well!
Only the von Arnim, Radcliffe and Mann have I read over the years, but I do want to read Romola – but only after I finally complete Middlemarch! And of course I’ve watched the Forster film two or three times now (though I know that doesn’t count…).
Good luck with completing Middlemarch. It took me two or three attempts to get through it, but I enjoyed it in the end. Romola is very different!
Goodreads tells me I’m 7% through it after three or four days, but that doesn’t include the scholarly introduction in the Penguin edition! Romola sounded good after reading the discussion in the book comparing Eliot with Austen, so it’s definitely on my ‘want-to-read’ list!
Nice work! I’ve only read Enchanted April–I’ll be back to read reviews on a couple of the others.
Thanks! I enjoyed all of these books.
I haven’t read any of those… but I did LOVE the movie version of ‘A Room With a View’. I will read some E.M. Forster *eventually*. [grin]
I haven’t read much by Forster, but I think A Room With a View is a great place to start.
A Sicilian Romance sounds wonderful. I hadn’t heard of that before. The Enchanted April is…enchanting. I loved the TV adaptation with Josie Lawrence as the vivacious character (I’ve forgotten her name). I also enjoyed A Room With a View, but feel I should watch the film to refresh my memory. As for the Mann, I read it so long ago, I can’t remember a thing.
I’ve enjoyed all of the Ann Radcliffe books I’ve read. A Sicilian Romance is a good one! I don’t think I’ve seen the TV version of The Enchanted April, but it sounds lovely.
Romola is the only George Eliot I haven’t read! I’ve been warned against it so am heartened to hear you enjoyed it. I studied A Room With A View for A Level and thoroughly enjoyed it.
I went into Romola with low expectations but liked it much more than I thought I would! It’s completely different from any of her other books, though.
I’ve read The Enchanted April and A Room With A View. Flight of the Falcon is in my TBR pile and I’m considering including it in a second go at a Classics Club list, probably next year now.
The only other one I can think of that would qualify as a classic is A Farewell to Arms.
I’ve read A Farewell to Arms and completely forgot about it when making this list! Flight of the Falcon is not one of my favourite du Mauriers but it does have an interesting and unusual plot.
I’ve read A Room with a View, Flight of the Falcon, and The Enchanted April.
I’d also recommend The Light in the Piazza by Elizabeth Spencer (written in 1960), though that’s technically a novella.
The Betrothed by Alessandro Manzoni is romantic historical epic first published in 1827. I did a freshman seminar on it in college and found it really interesting.
I hadn’t heard of The Light in the Piazza, so thanks for the recommendation. The Betrothed is a book I’ve considered reading but never have – I’m pleased to hear you found it interesting!
Hello Helen, the only one I have read from your list A Room with a View by E.M. Forster, which I really enjoyed. However I would like to read many on your list; in particular An Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim. Having a think, the only other classic novel I have read set in Italy is Where Angels Fear to Tread by E.M. Forster, which I also really enjoyed. Forster + Italy = 😍
Blessings, Jessica 💌
The Enchanted April is a lovely book – I hope you’re able to read it at some point. I haven’t read Where Angels Fear to Tread and didn’t know it was set in Italy as well. I’m glad you enjoyed it!