Italy Memoirs

In 1508, despite strong advice to the contrary, the powerful Pope Julius II commissioned Michelangelo Buonarroti to paint the ceiling of the newly restored Sistine Chapel in Rome. During the four extraordinary years that Michelangelo spent laboring over the ceiling, power politics and personal rivalries swirled around him. He battled ill health, financial and family difficulties, inadequate knowledge of the art of fresco, and the Pope's impatience - a history that is more compelling than most novels.

After four years of renovations, grief and chaos, Rosie and Ronan’s dream home in Italy is finally coming together—or so they hope. Whether it’s the last remnants of a housebound ghost or renovation fatigue, something seems to be draining their energy. With plans to open their doors to guests looming, the gardens need taming, the house needs sprucing, and—most importantly—they need to figure out if hosting strangers is a dream worth pursuing or their next life disaster waiting to happen. To prepare, Rosie and Ronan hit the road, scoping out the quirks and perks of BnBs in Italy ...

Memoir; life in Italy, grief and healing, women’s midlife memoir, expat life, Irish humor, found family, starting again, loss and love, Italy memoir, solo travel. Read as standalone, but better as part of the series. Welcome back to Casa Anam Cara — where the Italian countryside is beautiful, the guests unpredictable, and the bureaucracy remains undefeated. Rosie’s life in Italy continues with hosting fabulous midlife crisis retreats for women and writers, garden chaos, and a revolving door of creative visitors. Between unexpected animals who move in uninvited, magic holy doors, the ...

Wedding planner Rosie is struggling with her grey, rain-soaked life in Ireland. When her landlord suddenly doubles the rent, Rosie is left with no choice but to pack up her family, two dogs, and possessions into a 20-year-old camper van and head off in search of her own happy ending in sunny Italy. While Rosie is determined to create the perfect life for her family in Italy, despite a hurricane, a raucous family dispute, and a little thing called a global pandemic to top it all off, she begins to realize that the Italian dream may be too big for her.

A groundbreaking major best seller in Italy, Gomorrah is Roberto Saviano's gripping nonfiction account of the decline of Naples under the rule of the Camorra, an organized crime network with a large international reach and stakes in construction, high fashion, illicit drugs, and toxic-waste disposal. Known by insiders as "the System," the Camorra affects cities and villages along the Neapolitan coast

Antonio Gramsci was born in Sardinia in 1891, became the leader of the Italian Communist Party in his early 30s, was arrested by Mussolini’s police in 1927, and remained imprisoned until shortly before his death 10 years later. The posthumous publication of his Prison Notebooks established him as a major thinker whose influence continues to increase. Fiori’s biography enlarges upon the facts of Gramsci’s life through personal accounts, and through Gramsci’s own writings to relatives and friends.

Two intrepid curmudgeons. An SUV with red plates. Ten thousand miles of twisty roads. What could go wrong? Changing zip codes every day? But of course! Folding your mirrors to squeeze through narrow lanes? Sign us up. Eating unidentified animal parts? Why not? But sorting out the trash in Sardinia? You need a Ph.D. for that! Driving Italy is the irreverent memoir of our winter chasing the sun from Paris to Corsica, Sardinia, and Sicily, fighting Covid, the GPS, and each other, and falling in love with Italy. If you like a good chuckle, spunky non-heroes, and the road less traveled, you'll ...

A transformational journey through Italy, India, and Bali searching for pleasure and devotion—the massive bestseller from the author of The Signature of All Things This beautifully written, heartfelt memoir touched a nerve among both readers and reviewers. Elizabeth Gilbert tells how she made...

Annette Joseph's years in Italy revealed this truth: Italy, in all its multifaceted, glorious history and culture has to be experienced in full. Over almost three decades, Italy has fed, entertained, confused, excited, lured, promised, lied, satisfied, occasionally disappointed, and utterly enchanted her. She's left, but can't stay away - she'll always return. Always. Just like a beloved partner....  

Tembi Locke, New York Times bestselling author of From Scratch, returns to Sicily for a breathtaking, emotional summer adventure, as she faces the empty nest and an uncharted new chapter in her own life. Tembi Locke has always been obsessed with family—making them, keeping them, thriving...

When Richard Lucchesi invites his mom to join his young family on a whirlwind tour through Italy, he’s hoping for quality time and postcard memories. What he gets is a full-blown comedy of errors involving lost passports, multiple police units, pickpockets, missed trains, ancient ruins, caffeine-induced breakdowns, and one absolutely unforgettable trip across Italy from Milan to Tuscany, Napoli, Pompeii, and beyond. In this side-splitting travel memoir, Grandma Backpacks Italy chronicles the chaos and charm of three generations navigating trains, tantrums, and tiramisu. From unbelievable ...

Join bestselling author Ivanka on a journey through the heart of Italy. From the cobblestone streets of Rome to the sun-kissed vineyards of Tuscany, Ivanka and her Principe Azzurro (Prince Charming) navigate the joys and challenges of Italian life. With humor, warmth, and an unwavering passion for la dolce vita, she invites readers to immerse themselves in the vibrant tapestry of Italian life, discovering that being Italian is more than you think—it’s family! Ivanka opens the door to the vibrant, sometimes chaotic, and always heartfelt world of Italian family life. With vivid ...

Lured by Venice’s colorful history and its labyrinth of walkways, canals, and bridges, Barry wanted to be more than just a tourist. He convinced his wife Debbie to join him in his Venice experiment, a one-year cultural immersion. Through their initiation into Venetian society, Debbie and Barry discovered the close-knit family of its inhabitants and the oddities of living in Venice, the improbable city built upon millions of tree trunks driven into the mud sixteen centuries ago. From the exasperating bureaucracy to high tides endangering their ground-floor apartment, these expatriates get ...

Full of lighthearted humor, sumptuous food, the wisdom of an Italian mother-in-law, and all the atmosphere of Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan Novels, this warm and witty memoir follows American-born Katherine Wilson on her adventures abroad. Thanks to a surprising romance—and a spirited woman...

The complete history of the legendary Venice landmark where Hemingway, Welles, and others were regulars. A meeting place for writers, artists, models, and the stars of stage, screen, and corporate boardrooms, a luxurious restaurant whose fabulous concoctions and timeless decor have often been imitated but never matched, Harry’s Bar in Venice has remained one of the world’s most renowned watering holes for more than 60 years.

Naples '44 is an unflinching autobiographical account of a year in Naples after the armistice and Allied landings in Sorrento in 1943. Working as a British counterintelligence officer under the Allied occupation, Lewis documents the rich pageant of life in the city and its surrounding areas. There is suffering and squalor: Criminal gangs are on the rise, along with typhus and black market commerce, and the female population is forced into part-time prostitution. But there is farce and humor, too, witnessed in the Roman uncle paid handsomely simply to appear at funerals.

From 1934 until 1944, Mussolini met Hitler numerous times, and the two developed a relationship that deeply affected both countries. While Germany is generally regarded as the senior power, Christian Goeschel demonstrates just how much history has underrepresented Mussolini's influence on his German ally. Goeschel, a scholar of 20th-century Germany and Italy, revisits all of Mussolini and Hitler's key meetings and asks how these meetings constructed a powerful image of a strong Fascist-Nazi relationship that still resonates with the general public.

Includes a bonus episode from the podcast I Am Kobe. The inside look at one of the most captivating and consequential figures in our culture—with never-before-heard interviews. Kobe Bryant’s death in January 2020 did more than rattle the worlds of sports and celebrity. The tragedy of that...

Having three generations of her family living under the same roof was once part of the Italian dream for Rosie. But when her party-loving, whiskey-drinking, poker-playing 85-year-old mother moves over from Ireland to Italy, Rosie’s longed for dolce vita in Umbria is anything but sweet.

Hailed in Italy as the best book ever written about the mafia in any language, Cosa Nostra is a fascinating, violent, and darkly comic account that takes us deep into the inner sanctum of this secret society. John Dickie uses startling new research to reveal the inner workings of this secret society with a murderous record. He explains how the mafia began, how it responds to threats and challenges, and introduces us to the real-life characters that inspired the American imagination for generations, making the mafia an international, larger than life cultural phenomenon.