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Hail Caesar! Historical Fiction set in Italy
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The Florios of Sicily
by Stefania Auci F AUC
Captures the many lives of Italy’s greatest family, the Florios, from their humble origins as Sicilian shopkeepers to their dominance as titans of industry.
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Render Unto Caesar
by Gillian Bradshaw F BRA
Heir to a noble Greek society, Hermogenes finds himself having to reclaim debts owed to his family after his father's tragic death at sea, a situation that places him in a difficult position with a prejudiced Roman consul and a beautiful woman gladiator.
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The Spy of Venice
by Benet Brandreth F BRA
Seeking his fortune in 16th-century London, a talented wordsmith joins a band of players before he is dispatched to Venice on an assignment that renders him the target of Catholic assassins and a shadowy killer.
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The Sound of the Hours
by Karen Campbell F CAM
In September 1943, when the German and Italian fascist occupation of the Tuscan town of Barga is challenged by the arrival of the U.S. Army, a 17-year-old Scottish-Italian girl falls for a young, black Buffalo soldier and wonders if their love can defy the times and troubles that brought them together.
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Inheritance of Power: The House of Medici
by Edward Charles F CHA
Maddalena, a black slave who bore Cosimo de'Medici's son, becomes embroiled in a scheme to protect the Medici bank from Cosimo's other sons and preserve a fortune of gold for Cosimo's grandson.
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The Lost Diary of Venice
by Margaux DeRoux F DER
Navigating her attraction to a married customer who has brought her a 16th- century treatise, a book restorer uncovers the story of a forbidden romance between a courtesan and a Renaissance artist who is losing his sight.
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Terra Incognita: A Novel of the Roman Empire
by Ruth Downie F DOW
A sequel to Medicus finds army doctor Gaius Petrius Ruso journeying to early second-century Britannia in the hopes of securing a quieter life, only to encounter local turbulence, a circumstance that is complicated by the vengeful plans of his slave, Tilla.
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The Birth of Venus
by Sarah Dunant F DUN
Turning fifteen in Renaissance Florence, Alessandra Cecchi becomes intoxicated with the works of a young painter whom her father has brought to the city to decorate the family's Florentine palazzo, a situation that is complicated by her unwanted arranged marriage to an older man and a battle between the Medici family and the fundamentalist followers of Savonarola.
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The Name of the Rose
by Umberto Eco F ECO
In 1327, Brother William of Baskerville is sent to investigate charges of heresy against Franciscan monks at a wealthy Italian abbey but finds his mission overshadowed by seven bizarre murders.
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My Brilliant Friend
by Elena Ferrante F FER
Beginning in the 1950s Elena and Lila grow up in Naples, Italy, mirroring two different aspects of their nation.
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Beatrice and Benedick
by Marina Fiorato F FIO
A tale set a year before the events of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing imagines the first youthful encounters between famous lovers Beatrice and Benedick to consider their original romance and bitter breakup.
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The Pope's Daughter
by Dario Fo F FO
A first novel by the Nobel Prize winner for literature imagines the life of notorious Pope Alexander VI's daughter Lucrezia Borgia, tracing her violent marriages and achievements as history's only woman to serve as head of the Catholic Church.
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The Confessions of Young Nero
by Margaret George F GEO
A tale inspired by the rise of the Emperor Nero follows the ascension of a youth to the head of Julius Caesar's imperial dynasty, where he navigates corruption and his mother's ruthless ambitions to pursue his ideals in the arts and athletics.
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The Vatican Princess: A Novel of Lucrezia Borgia
by C. W Gortner F GOR
Told in the notorious Italian villainess' own voice, a fictionalized account covers her privileged and pampered childhood in Roman palaces to her arranged marriages, and complicated relationship with her brothers.
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Imperium: A Novel of Ancient Rome
by Robert Harris F HAR
A tale inspired by the writings of Tiro, Marcus Cicero's confidential secretary, traces the life of the famous ancient Roman orator and philosopher from his beginnings as a radical young lawyer through his competitions with such figures as Pompey, Caesar, and Crassus in the political arena.
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The Ornatrix
by Kate Howard F HOW
A young woman born with a strange birthmark on her face leaves her sheltered childhood and becomes hairdresser and personal maid to a former courtesan who draws her into a world of desire and jealousy lurking behind the wealth and privilege of Perugia.
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A Brightness Long Ago
by Guy Gavriel Kay F KAY
A brilliant servant under a despotic count and a would-be assassin who has forfeited a life of comfort join an extraordinary group of companions when a rivalry between two mercenary commanders threatens the world balance.
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I Give It to You
by Valerie Martin F MAR
Renting a Tuscan apartment where she plans to spend the summer writing, an American academic becomes captivated by her hostess' family heritage and the unsolved death of a relative from World War II.
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Portrait of a Conspiracy
by Donna Russo Morin F MOR
When Florence is plunged into murderous chaos, five female painters search for their missing friend who was rumored to have stolen a famous painting before she disappeared.
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Scarpia
by Piers Paul Read F REA
A tale inspired by one of the central figures in Puccini's classic opera follows the experiences of a disgraced 18th-century Sicilian nobleman who must seek his fortunes in Italy against a backdrop of a French Revolution that is placing the rule of the Pope in question.
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The Midwife of Venice
by Roberta Rich F RIC
Hannah Levi, a Jewish midwife, must decide if she will accept payment for delivering a countess' baby, as she is torn between breaking a Papal edict forbidding Jews from providing medical care to Christians and her desperate need to ransom her husband from pirates.
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The Girl from Venice
by Martin Cruz Smith F SMI
A new standalone novel by the award-winning author of Gorky Park follows a turbulent love affair between a fisherman and a Jewish woman on the run in occupied 1945 La Serenissima.
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Raphael, Painter in Rome
by Stephanie Storey F STO
Orphaned at age eleven, Raphael is determined to keep the deathbed promise he made to his father: become the greatest artist in history. But to be the best, he must beat the best, the legendary sculptor of the David, Michelangelo Buonarroti. When Pope Julius II calls both artists down to Rome, they are pitted against each other: Michelangelo painting the Sistine Ceiling, while Raphael decorates the pope's private apartments. As Raphael strives toward perfection in paint, he battles internal demons: his desperate ambition, crippling fear of imperfection, and unshakable loneliness. Along the way, he conspires with cardinals, scrambles through the ruins of ancient Rome, and falls in love with a baker's-daughter-turned-prostitute who becomes his muse.
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In the Shadow of Vesuvius
by Tasha Alexander M ALE
Discovering a body hidden in plain sight among the ruins of Pompeii, Lady Emily launches an investigation that is complicated by archaeologist secrets and a beautiful young woman who claims a shocking relationship to Colin’s family.
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The Tuscan Child
by Rhys Bowen M BOW
Joanna Langley embarks on a healing journey to Tuscany to learn about her British-bomber-pilot father's hidden past.
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