Read around Italy - Aosta Valley

Come with me on a reading journey around Italy's stunning twenty regions.

As a book blogger/book reviewer for books set in Italy, from mysteries to histories, from crime to cookbooks, from thrillers to travel guides, cosy up in an armchair and let me take you on a journey around all of Italy’s beautiful regions.

We head north this month for our second stop in the Aosta Valley, the smallest region of Italy, on the border with France and Switzerland and rich in nature and history. It is dotted with the highest peaks known as "Four Giants of the Alps” - the Matterhorn, Mount Rosa, Gran Paradiso and the majestic Mont Blanc.

I have driven through this region many times on the way to France, but with green valleys and fairy-tale castles, the Aosta Valley is an enchanting place to visit all year round.

The Aosta Valley is certainly famous for its castles; each town has its own castle, and many are still in excellent condition today and have become important tourist attractions. Among the most beautiful castles in the Aosta Valley are the Castle of Fénis, the Castle of Bard, the Castle of Savoy and the Castle of Issogne.

In the winter, it is an ideal destination for winter sports enthusiasts; it’s time to don your skis and let your hair down, and in the summer, it is a paradise for hikers with numerous walking trails surrounded by 3000 metre summits. Beautiful chapels, delightful hamlets and spectacular mountain vistas await, and ancient pathways trodden over the centuries by armies and pilgrims bring a sense of Aosta Valley history to the exceptional natural environment.

The Aosta Valley serves as a remarkable canvas for any story, inviting creativity and inspiration. Books set here frequently highlight its dramatic Alpine scenery, featuring crime thrillers, romances, and historical narratives centred around Courmayeur, Aosta, and the surrounding mountains.

Black Run

A gritty crime novel featuring Deputy Police Chief Rocco Schiavone, often featuring the harsh winter landscape of Aosta.

by Antonio Manzini

Already an international hit, a sly, sizzling mystery, the first in a sensational crime series set in the Italian Alps, reminiscent of the works of Andrea Camilleri, D. A. Mishani, Donna Leon, and Henning Mankell.

Getting into serious trouble with the wrong people, deputy prefect of police Rocco Schiavone is exiled to Aosta, a small, touristy alpine town far from his beloved Rome. The sophisticated and crotchety Roman despises mountains, snow, and the provincial locals as much as he disdains his superiors and their petty rules. But he loves solving crimes.

When a mangled body has been discovered on a ski run above Champoluc, Rocco immediately faces his first challenge, identifying the victim, a complex procedure complicated by his ignorance of the customs, dialect, and history of his new home. Proud and undaunted, Rocco makes his way among the ski runs, mountain huts, and aerial tramways, meeting ski instructors, Alpine guides, the hardworking, enigmatic folk of Aosta, and a few beautiful locals eager to give him a warm welcome.

It won’t be easy, this mountain life, especially with a corpse or two in the mix. But then there’s nothing that makes Rocco feel more at home than an investigation.

An insightful observer of human nature, Antonio Manzini writes with sly humour and a dash of irony, and introduces an irresistible hero—a fascinating blend of swagger, machismo, and vulnerability in a colourful and atmospheric crime mystery series that is European crime fiction at its best.

The Eight Mountains

For fans of Elena Ferrante and Paulo Coelho comes a moving and elegant novel about the friendship between two young Italian boys from different backgrounds and how their connection evolves and challenges them throughout their lives.

by Paolo Cognetti

Pietro is a lonely boy living in Milan. With his parents becoming more distant each day, the only thing the family shares is their love for the mountains that surround Italy.

While on vacation at the foot of the Aosta Valley, Pietro meets Bruno, an adventurous, spirited local boy. Together they spend many summers exploring the mountains’ meadows and peaks and discover the similarities and differences in their lives, their backgrounds, and their futures. The two boys come to find the true meaning of friendship and camaraderie, even as their divergent paths in life—Bruno’s in the mountains, Pietro’s across the world—test the strength and meaning of their connection.

The Eight Mountains - 2022 Italian film (Le otto montagne) is available on Netflix in certain regions

What Happens in the Alps

‘If you like snow, skiing, Italy, comedy, labradors or light romance, then this is the book for you!’

by TA Williams

Two years ago, Annie Brewer’s life was turned upside down when her adrenaline-junkie husband died in a tragic climbing accident. So she’s hoping that moving to the beautiful village of Santorso in the Italian Alps will finally put her life back on track!

…anything can happen!

She might be going into business with her oldest friend – notorious lady-charmer Matt Brown – but men are definitely out of the question for Annie! That is, until she bumps into tall, dark and delicious Alessandro Lago on the ski slopes…and spontaneously says ‘Yes’ to a date!

It must be the crisp, mountain air but suddenly, anything seems possible. The only trouble is, chivalrous Matt is looking more gorgeous than ever…

The Saint-Fiacre Affair (Inspector Maigret)

An evocative tale from Georges Simenon that unearths the inspector’s past: Maigret finds an anonymous note predicting a crime in his hometown.

by Georges Simenon

I wish to inform you that a crime will be committed at the church of Saint-Fiacre during the first mass on All Souls’ Day.

This handwritten note is deposited at the headquarters of the Police Judiciaire in Paris. Maigret sets off for the village, having been there last for his father’s funeral.

As bleary-eyed people depart the All Souls’ service, Maigret thinks the note must be wrong―until the motionless Countess of Saint-Fiacre, upon closer look, is found dead in her pew. Who is responsible for the crime? Could it be the countess’s young secretary and alleged lover, the tight-lipped priest, the profligate Count of Saint-Fiacre, or the new estate manager? Though inundated with troubling memories from his past, Maigret remains steadfast in his hunt for the truth behind this sinister turn of events.

Though the majority of Simenon’s famous detective novels are set in France, this particular instalment of his Inspector Maigret series takes place in Aosta, the capital city of Valle d’Aosta.

The Sense of an Ending

A novel that follows a middle-aged man as he contends with a past he never much thought about—until his closest childhood friends return with a vengeance: one of them from the grave, another maddeningly present.

by Julian Barnes

A novel so compelling that it begs to be read in a single setting, The Sense of an Ending has the psychological and emotional depth and sophistication of Henry James at his best, and is a stunning achievement in Julian Barnes's oeuvre.

Tony Webster thought he left his past behind as he built a life for himself, and his career has provided him with a secure retirement and an amicable relationship with his ex-wife and daughter, who now has a family of her own. But when he is presented with a mysterious legacy, he is forced to revise his estimation of his own nature and place in the world.

While not entirely set in Valle d’Aosta, parts of this acclaimed novel take place in the region. The protagonist reflects on his past and experiences a life-changing event during a holiday in the Italian Alps.

The Solitude of Prime Numbers

Surprising, intimate and deeply moving, The Solitude of Prime Numbers takes the readers on a hypnotic journey through an unexpected love affair

by Paolo Giordano

A prime number is a lonely thing. It can only be divided by itself or by one, and it never truly fits with another. Alice and Mattia are both "primes"—misfits haunted by early tragedies. When the two meet as teenagers, they recognise in each other a kindred, damaged spirit. Years later, a chance encounter reunites them and forces a lifetime of concealed emotion to the surface. But can two prime numbers ever find a way to be together? A brilliantly conceived and elegantly written debut novel, The Solitude of Prime Numbers is a stunning meditation on loneliness, love, and what it means to be human.

This novel takes place primarily in Italy, and although Valle d’Aosta is not the main setting, it makes an appearance. The story follows two individuals as they navigate their emotional struggles and the complexities of their relationship.

Death by Water

A novel about a drowning in a river a long time ago, and about overwhelming waves of memory in old age

by Kenzaburo Oe

Part of Ōe’s fictionalised memoir series, this novel includes passages set in Valle d’Aosta. The story revolves around the author’s journey to explore his family’s roots and confront his troubled relationship with his father.

Since his youth, renowned writer Kogito Choko planned to fictionalise his father’s fatal drowning in order to fully process the loss. Choko has long been driven to discover why his father was boating on the river during a torrential storm. Though he remembers overhearing his father and a group of soldiers discussing an insurgent scheme to stage a suicide attack on Emperor Mikado, Choko cannot separate his memories from imagination and his family is hesitant to confess the entire story.

When the contents of the trunk turn out to offer little clarity, he abandons the novel in creative despair. Floundering as an artist, he’s haunted by fear that he may never write his tour de force. But when he collaborates with an avant-garde theatre troupe dramatising his early novels, Choko is revitalized and he finds the will to continue investigating his father’s demise.

Diving into the turbulent depths of legacy and mortality, Death by Water is an exquisite exploration of resurfacing national and personal trauma, and the ways that storytelling can mend political, social, and familial rifts.

*********************************

WORTHY OF A MENTION:

( not all are available in English)

The House by the Medlar Tree by Giovanni Verga – While not entirely set in Valle d’Aosta, some parts of this Italian classic take place in the region. The novel depicts the lives of Sicilian peasants who emigrate to Aosta seeking a better future. ( available in English)

The Mountains of Parnassus by Czesław Miłosz – This poetic novel presents a series of interconnected tales, and one of them unfolds in Valle d’Aosta. The book explores themes of memory, history, and the human condition.

The Stone Boy by Pasquale D’Ambrosio – This novel is set in a small village in the Aosta Valley and follows the life of a young boy struggling with isolation and moral dilemmas. It explores themes of family, resilience, and introspection.

The Wall by Marlen Haushofer – While not specifically set in Valle d’Aosta, this dystopian novel features mountains and a secluded cabin, reminiscent of the region’s countryside. It tells the story of a woman’s survival in a post-apocalyptic world.

*********************************

Myths and legends in the Aosta Valley are rife and with all the castles in the region, it’s no surprise that there are many ghostly stories. There are tales of the ”presence” of an armiger from the 17th century in Saint Marcel Castle; of a woman who died for a crime she didn't commit, in the 16th century, in Quart Castle; and the spirit of Countess Bianca Maria of Challant in Issogne Castle, her residence from 1522 to 1525. Bianca Maria was just twenty when she was sent to trial and condemned to decapitation for a crime she didn't commit. It is said that a ghost appears in summer, near the octagonal fountain in the castle courtyard.

*********************************

If hiking is your thing, then there are several highly regarded guidebooks for the Aosta Valley, with a strong focus on hiking and alpine activities, as well as general travel. Top recommendations include the detailed Cicerone guidebook "Walking in the Aosta Valley" by Andy Hodges, which covers various trails, and "A guide to trails in the western Aosta Valley" by Luca Zavatta (L'Escursionista).

I hope you enjoy my choice of books! See you in the next region soon