Books about Rome
Plotting Through the Piazzas
Rome isn’t just built from stone—it’s built from stories. Writers from Ovid to Moravia have mapped the city in verse and prose, turning real streets into lasting fiction. You can visit Via Merulana, setting of Gadda’s chaotic murder mystery, or the Keats–Shelley House, where the English poet spent his final days. In Testaccio and Garbatella, the postwar novels of Elsa Morante and Alberto Moravia come to life in working-class courtyards and quiet piazzas. From plaques and museums to street-level scenes that still echo with literary memory, Rome invites visitors to read the city as much as explore it.
Rome fiction
Virginia Baily
Early One Morning
A poignant historical novel detailing a woman’s split-second decision in Nazi-occupied Rome that changes her life forever, exploring themes of resilience, sacrifice, and survival amidst the harsh realities of war-torn Rome.
Dan Brown
Angels and Demons
A modern thriller where symbologist Robert Langdon races through Rome to stop an Illuminati conspiracy threatening the Vatican, navigating historic streets and deciphering ancient symbols in a high-stakes quest.
Antonio Capella
The Food of Love
A romantic and humorous novel about culinary seduction, mistaken identity, and love in Rome, intertwining gastronomic passion with the intricate dance of desire and deception in the Eternal City.
Gianfranco Calligarich
Last Summer in the City
A melancholic novel from the late 1960s about a drifting alcoholic in Rome who falls into a doomed love affair, capturing the despair and fleeting beauty of urban isolation.
Lindsey Davis
The Silver Pigs
A historical crime novel featuring Marcus Didius Falco, an informer navigating the treacherous politics of Vespasian’s Rome, blending wit with authentic ancient details in a suspenseful narrative.
Ennio Flaiano
Via Veneto Papers
A collection of short stories offering a sharp and satirical view of Rome’s cultural scene, including incisive insights on director Fellini and the quirks of urban life.
Robert Graves
I, Claudius
A modern classic historical novel told as the fictional autobiography of the Roman Emperor Claudius, chronicling the brutality and intrigue of imperial Rome with vivid characterisation and rich historical detail.
Elly Griffiths
The Dark Angel
A modern archaeological mystery where Dr Ruth Galloway investigates ancient bones and a present-day murder in an Italian village, merging forensic insight with historical intrigue.
David Hewson
The Villa of Mysteries
A gripping modern crime novel about a ritualistic murder linked to ancient Roman practices, as investigators uncover disturbing connections to long-forgotten traditions in contemporary Rome.
Maxim Jakubowski
Rome Noir
A dark, atmospheric collection of noir fiction set across Rome’s varied neighbourhoods, blending political corruption, Mafia intrigue, and urban malaise. Includes Giuseppe Genna’s Caput Mundi, a tense, brooding story capturing the baroque menace of the city’s shadowy corridors of power.
Matthew Kneale
When We Were Romans
A modern psychological novel told through the perspective of a nine-year-old boy navigating life in Rome, revealing the intricate and often harsh realities of the city through youthful eyes.
Amara Lakhous
Clash of Civilizations Over an Elevator in Piazza Vittorio
A contemporary satirical murder mystery set in a multicultural Roman apartment building, where the intersecting lives of eccentric residents expose deep cultural tensions and hidden secrets.
Caroline Lawrence
The Roman Mysteries
A historical fiction series for younger readers, following children solving mysteries in Ancient Rome, blending engaging plots with authentic historical detail and educational intrigue.
Elsa Morante
History: A Novel
A sweeping historical novel set in WWII Rome, following a mother and her sons through war, survival, and hardship, portraying their harrowing experiences with profound emotional depth.
Alberto Moravia
The Woman of Rome
A mid-20th-century novel following a young woman’s descent into prostitution against the backdrop of Fascist Italy, exposing the interplay of societal corruption and personal desperation.
Harry Mulisch
The Discovery of Heaven
A sweeping metaphysical novel involving history, politics, and religion, culminating in Rome, where profound philosophical questions and epic narratives converge to explore destiny and human endeavor.
Joseph O’Connor
The Ghosts of Rome
A collection of modern and historical fiction stories blending mystery and the supernatural in Rome, offering rich, multi-layered narratives that evoke the city’s ancient ghosts and contemporary enigmas.
Adele Parks
Two Women in Rome
A modern novel intertwining the lives of two women across different eras in post-war Italy, examining the evolution of personal identity and societal change within the evocative setting of Rome.
Pier Paolo Pasolini
The Ragazzi
A Violent Life
A raw, poetic novel about a boy growing up in the slums of post-war Rome, capturing the struggles of the city’s underclass with brutal authenticity.
A gritty post-war novel portraying the struggles of a young man in Rome’s impoverished slums, detailing his fight against poverty and societal decay.
A gritty post-war novel portraying the struggles of a young man in Rome’s impoverished slums, detailing his fight against poverty and societal decay.
Iain Pears
The Raphael Affair
An art crime novel featuring Flavia di Stefano and Jonathon Argyll, investigating a missing painting and a related murder, blending art historical insights with suspenseful investigative twists.
Tom Rachman
The Imperfectionists
A contemporary novel about the eccentric staff of an English-language newspaper in Rome, capturing the challenges of modern journalism amid the city’s storied cultural backdrop.
Ann Radcliffe
The Italian
A Gothic novel featuring romance, mystery, and the sinister workings of the Inquisition in Rome, seamlessly combining suspense with richly atmospheric narrative.
Frederick Rolfe
Hadrian the Seventh
A novel about an Englishman unexpectedly becoming Pope, exploring themes of power and corruption, and the clash between tradition and modernity with provocative insight.
Muriel Spark
The Public Image
A sharp, satirical novel set in Rome’s film industry, exploring celebrity and reputation, delving into the construction of public personas and the underlying absurdities of modern media.
Irving Stone
The Agony and the Ecstasy
A biographical novel about Michelangelo, detailing his artistic genius and turbulent relationships in Renaissance Italy, offering both intimate character insights and grand historical spectacle.
Tennessee Williams
The Roman Spring of Mrs Stone
A passionate, melancholic novel about an aging widow’s destructive affair in post-war Rome, examining themes of loneliness, fading beauty, and vulnerability within the decadent circles of Roman society.
This project is growing steadily, starting with curated reading lists and gradually expanding to include literary locations in each featured city.
The long-term goal is to read the books, visit the locations they evoke, and share reviews alongside photos and insights. At the moment, it’s a solo effort built around full-time work — so updates may take time.
If you have suggestions to contribute, or would like to share a review based on how well a book helped you explore a place through literature, feel free to get in touch here.