Here are 100 books that Lampedusa fans have personally recommended if you like
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I read almost any genre, but fantasy is what I love most, both reading and writing. Stories are magic, but when they have actual magic in them, I’m hooked. Having studied both Film and Creative Writing at university, I love to go in-depth on storytelling and have reviews aplenty on my website if you want further recommendations. The books I’ve chosen for this list have incredibly unique worlds full of bizarre magic. When I enter a new world, I want it to be exactly that: new and exciting with a touch of the surreal. To me, these books showcase magic at its most vivid and creative.
I very nearly stopped reading this book–even though it’s so short as it starts off unbelievably abstract. I didn’t know what was going on, and the descriptions only added to the confusion. But I’m so glad I kept going.
The main character does amnesia in the most charming way, and discovering his past and the strange world he seems both lost in and totally at home in was absolutely enchanting. This has stuck with me ever since, like the most vivid fever dream.
Winner of the 2021 Women's Prize for Fiction A SUNDAY TIMES & NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
The spectacular new novel from the bestselling author of JONATHAN STRANGE & MR NORRELL, 'one of our greatest living authors' NEW YORK MAGAZINE __________________________________ Piranesi lives in the House. Perhaps he always has.
In his notebooks, day after day, he makes a clear and careful record of its wonders: the labyrinth of halls, the thousands upon thousands of statues, the tides that thunder up staircases, the clouds that move in slow procession through the upper halls. On Tuesdays and Fridays Piranesi sees his friend,…
I write strange, emotional novels from my book-filled apartment in Vancouver, a short walk from the ocean. This may be why I’m obsessed with islands. Or perhaps it’s because they evoke the feeling of being apart from the world, adrift, of protecting something rare. Whatever the reason, my novel takes place on an uncanny island off the coast of Mexico, where the locals drink tea in the afternoon and pray to skeletons hidden in caves. The story that unfolds on this island could not have taken place on the mainland, and I believe the same goes for the books on my list.
The island city of Montreal comes to life in vivid, loving detail in this poignant novel. A young schoolteacher confronts both change and stagnation in his life, navigating the city’s streets in constant search of human connection. As he experiences the thrills and heartbreak of being a gay man in a time of liberation, past fears and insecurities hold him back from finding what he’s looking for.
Twenty-eight-year-old Will, a teacher living in Montreal, has spent the last few months recovering from a breakup with his first serious boyfriend, Max. He has resumed his search for companionship, but has he truly moved on? Will's mother Katherine-one of the few people, perhaps the only one, who loves him unconditionally-is also in recovery, from a bout with colon cancer that haunts her body and mind with the possibility of relapse. Having experienced heartbreak and fearful of tragedy, Will must come to terms with the rule of impermanence: to see past lost treasures and unwanted returns, to find hope and…
I write strange, emotional novels from my book-filled apartment in Vancouver, a short walk from the ocean. This may be why I’m obsessed with islands. Or perhaps it’s because they evoke the feeling of being apart from the world, adrift, of protecting something rare. Whatever the reason, my novel takes place on an uncanny island off the coast of Mexico, where the locals drink tea in the afternoon and pray to skeletons hidden in caves. The story that unfolds on this island could not have taken place on the mainland, and I believe the same goes for the books on my list.
I loved this book because it transported me to the sun-soaked island of Barbados—but not only the glossy image from travel magazines, which I’ve visited before like many other tourists.
It offers an unflinching peek at the authentic, sometimes tragic, side of paradise where the locals live and work. Following the intertwined lives of a grieving young mother, her violent husband, a wealthy widow, and a conflicted gigolo, this novel reveals the darkness that festers within the places we call home.
In the tradition of Zadie Smith and Marlon James, a brilliant Caribbean writer delivers a powerful story about four people each desperate to escape their legacy of violence in a so-called "paradise."
In Baxter’s Beach, Barbados, Lala’s grandmother Wilma tells the story of the one-armed sister. It’s a cautionary tale, about what happens to girls who disobey their mothers and go into the Baxter’s Tunnels. When she’s grown, Lala lives on the beach with her husband, Adan, a petty criminal with endless charisma whose thwarted burglary of one of the beach mansions sets off a chain of events with terrible…
Who was the man who would become Caesar's lieutenant, Brutus' rival, Cleopatra's lover, and Octavian's enemy?
When his stepfather is executed for his involvement in the Catilinarian conspiracy, Mark Antony and his family are disgraced. His adolescence is marked by scandal and mischief, his love affairs are fleeting, and yet,…
I write strange, emotional novels from my book-filled apartment in Vancouver, a short walk from the ocean. This may be why I’m obsessed with islands. Or perhaps it’s because they evoke the feeling of being apart from the world, adrift, of protecting something rare. Whatever the reason, my novel takes place on an uncanny island off the coast of Mexico, where the locals drink tea in the afternoon and pray to skeletons hidden in caves. The story that unfolds on this island could not have taken place on the mainland, and I believe the same goes for the books on my list.
This novel brings together the past and present experiences of Asian Canadians in a story that’s bursting with light and energy. Much of the book depicts the discrimination faced by Chinese immigrants in Newfoundland in the early 20th century, and I loved how humour was interspersed between moments that stirred feelings of intense anger and sadness.
Throw in a cheeky, time-travelling spirit named Mo and the privileged millennial who learns about the hardship that’s granted him the life he leads, and we’ve got a fresh take on a tragic history from an exciting new literary voice.
NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE TELEGRAM AND WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
The hilarious and heartbreaking story of two William Pings in Newfoundland—the lost millennial and the grandfather he knows nothing about
William Ping’s millennial life revolves around eating at restaurants, posting online about eating at restaurants, then overanalyzing it. This changes unexpectedly when a dinner with his Chinese girlfriend’s family goes sideways and his insecurity about his biracial identity and his ignorance of his own Chinese heritage overflow. During a much-needed break from the…
A writer friend asked me, "If you could write about anything you wanted, what would that be?" I thought immediately of Sicily and then of women (and men) trying to break free from cultural definitions that have historically kept us in traditional roles of housewife, cook, and mother, or breadwinner and protector. Having choice and being able to carve one's path is paramount, a deeply held value for me, both as an individual woman and as a psychotherapist. The courage of some of my clients who have dared to follow their own paths, along with my challenge to steer my own path, were also inspirations for the books I chose.
After I visited Sicily at 22 (the same age as Mariella in the book) and stayed with relatives in Siracusa, I fell in love with Sicily (and all of Italy) and wanted to know everything I could about it, its history, its customs, architecture, food, and especially to understand the collective psyche of its people.
My grandmother was born in Sicily and never spoke English even after moving to the United States, and my uncles and father spent a good part of their childhoods in Catania, where the Sicily part of Becoming Mariella takes place. I had never before felt the deep longing of a cultural belonging, and this book, written in 1958, is one of the finest works of twentieth-century fiction (according to Daunt Books), and opened my eyes to the pride and richness of the Sicilian people and its aristocracy, their stubbornness and an understanding of how,…
The Leopard is a modern classic which tells the spellbinding story of a decadent, dying Sicilian aristocracy threatened by the approaching forces of democracy and revolution.
'There is a great feeling of opulence, decay, love and death about it' Rick Stein
In the spring of 1860, Fabrizio, the charismatic Prince of Salina, still rules over thousands of acres and hundreds of people, including his own numerous family, in mingled splendour and squalor. Then comes Garibaldi's landing in Sicily and the Prince must decide whether to resist the forces of change or come to terms with them.
Very little has been written in English about Sicilian women. Most of the studies written in English about the women of southern Italy are the work of foreigners who discovered our region in adulthood. While some non-Italian colleagues have produced fine work, my books reflect the perspective of a scholar who, being Sicilian, has been familiar with the region and its people all her life. This is seen in my knowledge of the Sicilian language, from which I've translated texts, and even the medieval cuisine mentioned in my books. Viva la Sicilia!
Here is the appeal of a different kind of story. This novella tells the story of an aristocratic Sicilian woman who, in the wake of the unification of 1860, becomes a brigand, which is to say, a partisan, fighting against the new regime.
The protagonist's unique experience is the key to this narrative, which translates into English very well.
Inspiring historical fiction based on the real life of Bertha Benz, whose husband built the first prototype automobile, which eventually evolved into the Mercedes-Benz marque.
"Unfortunately, only a girl again."
From a young age, Cäcilie Bertha Ringer is fascinated by her father's work as a master builder in Pforzheim, Germany.…
I’ve loved history and historical fiction since childhood and have been writing historical fiction/historical romance for about ten years. To give readers a sense of what life was really like almost three hundred years ago, I do extensive research: the weight of a 1717 French musket, the terrain where my story is set, and guardianship law, among other details. Titled men, gentlemen smugglers, and ballrooms are mostly absent because although they’re the stuff of daydreams, our most common problems center around family relationships. Making ends meet, difficult relatives, loyalty to family versus honor, or one’s own best interests or duty offer plenty of scope for conflict (and excitement and romance, too).
I hated having to put this book down to sleep, go to work, go back to work, eat, or whatever. I love Heyer's humor. After reading the book many, many times for its warm, feel-good story, I still laugh at some of the predicaments Frederica's adventurous young siblings fall into. And Endymion Dauntry, her silly sister’s cork-brained beau!
Her writing style is polished and the dialogue is witty. The love interest is believable as is not always the case with romance novels. Accuracy in detail and depiction of the period is important to me, too, and Heyer delivers it. The story is engaging and fun without being silly, and as it’s an older book, it’s free of tedious sex scenes. It’s a feel-good story.
New York Times bestselling author Georgette Heyer's beloved tale of an entertaining heroine stumbling on happiness when her marital machinations for her sister go awry.
Determined to secure a brilliant marriage for her beautiful sister, Frederica seeks out their distant cousin the Marquis of Alverstoke. Lovely, competent, and refreshingly straightforward, Frederica makes such a strong impression on him that to his own amazement, the Marquis agrees to help launch them all into society.
Normally Lord Alverstoke keeps his distance from his family, which includes two overbearing sisters and innumerable favor-seekers. But with his enterprising—and altogether entertaining—country cousins chasing wishes and…
Growing up on a small farm in southern Ohio, I was the first generation of my family to attend both high school and college. Literature, reading it, talking about it, studying it, was my entry into a world of larger possibilities than my family’s somewhat straitened circumstances had allowed me. Faulkner attracted me because the rural enclave in which we lived, and my neighbors, resembled locales and characters in his fiction. Shakespeare attracted me for many reasons, most notably the beauty of his language and the ability of his plays to reveal new meanings as my life experiences changed.
Many years ago, when I first tried to read this novel, I gave up after three pages. Its title comes from Shakespeare’s Macbeth: Life, Macbeth says, “is a tale / Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, / Signifying nothing.” Indeed, the first of the novel’s four sections is told by an “idiot,” the mentally handicapped Benjy Compson.
A seemingly chaotic assemblage of visual impressions and intrusive memories, the section is, in fact, highly organized and internally consistent. It gradually reveals Benjy’s inchoate sorrow at his sister Caddy's absence from the family, she who alone loved and nurtured him.
The second and third sections are in the voices of Benjy’s two brothers, the suicidal Quentin and the racist and misogynistic Jason. Both also offer difficulties, Quentin’s especially. The final section is an overview in the form of a third-person narrative.
A complex, intense American novel of family from the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature
With an introduction by Richard Hughes
Ever since the first furore was created on its publication in 1929, The Sound and the Fury has been considered one of the key novels of this century. Depicting the gradual disintegration of the Compson family through four fractured narratives, the novel explores intense, passionate family relationships where there is no love, only self-centredness. At its heart, this is a novel about lovelessness - 'only an idiot has no grief; only a fool would forget it.
I married my high school sweetheart, so I believe strongly in the magic and power of happily ever after. Although I wrote stories for my classmates as early as third grade, becoming a writer felt unattainable at the age of 21. As an elementary teacher, I adored my students, but the writing bug burrowed deep. Finally, I left the classroom and pursued writing full-time. It was a long road, but it has been so rewarding. My goal is to create a character-driven romance that feels real and relatable. One of the nicest comments I ever received was a reviewer who said she wanted to have dinner with my characters.
Although I primarily read contemporary romance, I love historical stories. Mary Balogh is one of the queens of the genre. For anyone who has fallen into the Bridgerton Netflix mania, Mary’s writing evokes the feeling of that time period: so many rules for the nobility and so many people who dare not fall in love or risk a lifetime of pain.
In this book, the couple is certainly not a suitable match. Even in their friendship, there is risk. I loved the way the stakes built up, and I also enjoyed the slow unraveling of a childhood secret that was destined to destroy any chance of happiness for the two main characters.
When Susannah is introduced to the charming, handsome Peter Edgeworth, he instantly unsettles her with his seductive gaze and brash pursuit. Yet the more Peter advances, the more Susanna withdraws. Suspecting that Susanna is haunted by a tragic history, Peter is determined to defy the mysteries of her past for a future with this exquisite creature.
Trapped in her enormous, devout Catholic family in 1963, Annie creates a hilarious campaign of lies when the pope dies and their family friend, Cardinal Stefanucci, is unexpectedly on the shortlist to be elected the first American pope.
Driven to elevate her family to the holiest of holy rollers in…
To call myself an expert on love would imply success in the field. You can think of me then as a passionate amateur. “Write what you know,” they always say, and there might be nothing I know better than the excitement and heartache of looking for, and finding, and losing, somebody in the world who’s unlike everybody else. Up until recently, I mostly wrote young adult mystery fiction, but my latest book, Words of Love, is evidence that “Will they or won’t they” is still the mystery, the central question, that I seek to resolve not just in my reading, or in my writing, but in my life.
It might seem pompous and affected to recommend this masterpiece by one of the greatest deities in the literary pantheon (who’s no stranger to accusations of pompousness and affectation himself…)—especially when it’s not immediately clear who’s on the other side of Isabel Archer’s “will they or won’t they?” story. Is it the competent, hardworking Caspar Goodwood? The aristocratic, lovelorn Lord Warburton? Her kind, ailing benefactor Ralph Touchett? Or the uncaring art collector Gilbert Osmond? It is evidence of Henry James’ genius that I felt, at the end of the novel, that I had encountered every one of these characters at some point in my life (occasionally in myself)—and his brilliant heroine became the unhearing recipient of all the advice I’ve ever needed to give myself on how to choose a partner.
The talented and beautiful Isabel Archer, courted by several suitors and enriched by her dying uncle, chooses to marry the cold and ambitious Gilbert Osmond. The heroine soon discovers to her cost that freedom of choice is never what it seems.
