10 books set in Italy that will make you dream of being there

If Italy has become the destination of millions of travellers every year, some credit is also due to the Bard: William Shakespeare, in fact, fascinated the Anglo-Saxon world with stories set in the Italian peninsula, so much so that it was included in the destinations of the Grand Tour, the journey that young aristocrats undertook to perfect their knowledge.

Many other authors, both Italian and foreign, have taken Shakespeare's example by writing books set in Italy, some of which have become so famous that they have landed on the big screen (think of Dan Brown's Angels and Demons), in films that give shape to descriptions of wonderful places as the backdrop for unforgettable stories.

We at Visit Italy have chosen 10 of the most famous books, sure that between their pages you can dream of your next destination in Italy.

If you are a fan of novels set in medieval times and combining the sacred and profane with a touch of mystery, you cannot miss The Name of the Rose.
Listed among Le Monde's 'The 100 Books of the Century,' it is surely a timeless classic, masterfully narrated by Umberto Eco. The story is set in 1327 inside a Benedictine monastery where the events of the two protagonist monks take place, paced by the rhythms of religious life.

To relive this mystical atmosphere, all you have to do is go to the Sacra di San Michele a few kilometers from Turin, which is the abbey that inspired Eco and in which the film of the same name starring Sean Connery and Christian Slater was filmed. You'll be amazed at the sight of this old monastery that seems to grow from the rock of the mountain on which it sits: the atmosphere there is almost magical and the view of the valley below will leave you breathless.

With bodies discovered in canals, piazzas and even La Fenice opera house, the Venice of Commissario Guido Brunetti has an astonishingly high rate of intriguing murders. With Death at La Fenice, Donna Leon begins this series of novels set in the Serenissima, where she has lived for twenty years. In the footsteps of Commissario Brunetti, you will discover a less touristy and more local Venice.

Her debut as a crime fiction writer began as a joke: talking in a dressing room in Venice's opera-house La Fenice after a performance, Donna and a singer friend were vilifying a particular German conductor. From the thought "why don't we kill him?" and discussion of when, where and how, the idea for Death at La Fenice took shape.

A trip can change the way you see and experience life, and you're probably thinking about that as you prepare for your trip to Italy. Surely this is what Edward Morgan Forster had in mind when he wrote his Room with a View: set in the 19th and 20th centuries, the novel tells the story of Lucy and George, who meet in beautiful Florence.

Between these pages you can see, through the enchantment of the carefree protagonist, all the beauty of the Tuscan capital, admiring the Basilica of Santa Croce, Piazza della Signoria and the panorama from the spectacular hills of Fiesole. And the room with a view? Well, it really existed, and it was number 22 at the Pensione Quisisana e Ponte Vecchio, located at number 4 Lungarno Archibusieri. Unfortunately this ancient building no longer exists, but in its place is now the Hotel degli Orafi and the 'room with a view' - named after the famous film - is on the fourth and penultimate floor of the building, at number 414.

Here is a book that will introduce you to a city off the classic tourist routes: Ferrara, a small treasure of Emilia-Romagna, rich in charm and history, is the splendid backdrop for the story narrated by Giorgio Bassani in The Garden of the Finzi-Continis. In this book, the events leading up to the Second World War are recounted through the story of the Finzi-Contini family, members of the wealthy Ferrarese bourgeoisie and the city's Jewish community at the turn of the Fascist period.

The story the novel tells is strongly inspired by Ferrara, and Bassani describes many places such as the Castello Estense, the Palazzo dei Diamanti, the Mura degli Angeli, the Corso Ercole I D'Este and, above all, Via delle Erbe, in the northern quarter of the city that inspired the Finzi-Continis literary garden.

We certainly couldn't exclude Rome from this list! There are many novels set in the Eternal City, but Dan Brown 's Angels and Demons is the exact mix of history, art and mystery, with a story that meanders through some of Rome's most magical places.

Following in the footsteps of iconology scholar Professor Robert Langdon, you will go from the Pantheon to the basilica of Santa Maria del Popolo, from the church of Santa Maria della Vittoria to Piazza Navona, passing by St Peter's and Castel Sant'Angelo. The scenery painted by Brown will take you through the air of intrigue, mystery and revelation.

Elena Ferrante takes you to the outskirts of Naples, to meet Lenù and Lila and their story that takes place between the 1950s and 1960s. This saga, of which My Brilliant Friend is the first novel, is about friendship, choices, and gender, but above all it shows an authentic Naples, off the beaten track, steeped in dialect and the scent of the sea.

It will be easy to find the places where My Brilliant Friend takes place: let us start from the district where the story takes place, the Luzzatti district, near the Gianturco metro station. Here you can find many places described by Ferrante, first and foremost the tunnel leading to the sea. Other cardinal points of the story are Corso Umberto I, Piazza dei Martiri in the Chiaia district, and Via Caracciolo, the splendid seafront from which Lenù admired Vesuvius. An excellent book to explore a different Naples.