The Library

  • The Haunted Hotel, by Wilkie Collins

    The Haunted Hotel, by Wilkie Collins

    VENICE-O-METER 3​Gripping Gothic novel and/or crime novel set in London, Ireland and Venice “…the wonderful city of the waters…” “… the dismal island…” It’s one of those books that makes you stay up late…

  • Adriatic: A Concert of Civilizations at the End of the Modern Age, by Robert D. Kaplan

    Adriatic: A Concert of Civilizations at the End of the Modern Age, by Robert D. Kaplan

    VENICE-O-METER 3Personal travelogue masquerading as a history book

  • Senso, di Camillo Boito

    Senso, di Camillo Boito

    VENICE-O-METER 8Psychological short story / novella partly set in Venice Like Death in Venice, Senso was famously adapted for the cinema by Luchino Visconti. Both are brief stories are set in Venice and chronicle…

  • Dead Lagoon, by Michael Dibdin

    Dead Lagoon, by Michael Dibdin

    VENICE-O-METER 9An Aurelio Zen investigation set in the inspector’s native Venice Michael Dibdin’s Dead Lagoon was published over 30 years ago, in the early 1990s, but his observation about a Venice in crisis —…

  • Laurus, by Eugene Vodolazkin, translated by Lisa C. Hayden

    Laurus, by Eugene Vodolazkin, translated by Lisa C. Hayden

    VENICE-O-METER 1 Historical novel set in 15th century Russia, in which the main character, a healer, makes a stop in Venice on his way to Jerusalem. The healer and his companions stay at a…

  • Italian Hours, by Henry James

    Italian Hours, by Henry James

    VENICE-O-METER 7 Collection of essays about Italy, some of which focus specifically on Venice