Read around Italy - Calabria

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.

This week we are in Calabria, in southwest Italy, the "toe" of the country’s boot-shaped peninsula, a sun-baked region of rugged mountains, old-fashioned villages and dramatic coastline, with many popular beaches. Calabria is famous for its crystal clear sea waters and is dotted with ancient villages, castles and archaeological parks.

Did you know that Homer’s Odyssey is set in Calabria? Arabs introduced silkworm farming and chilli peppers. Normans built castles in every city. There are pockets of ancient and Byzantine Greek still spoken in the Aspromonte mountains in the south. The music of Calabria favours minor keys and pulsing rhythms that might remind listeners of Balkan or North African music. Calabria is a five-sensory cultural extravaganza.

The most common Italian stops on Grand tour itineraries included Venice, Florence, Pisa, Rome, Naples and Pompeii. Yet while Calabria was not part of any traditional itinerary, several writers and artists have travelled through the region and left beautiful accounts of their journeys.

Edward Lear, both writer and artist, said of Calabria in his Journals of a Landscape Painter in Calabria (1852): “This land of pictorial and poetical interest has had but few explorers; fewer still have published their experiences; and its scenery… has rarely been portrayed, at least by our own countrymen.” He spoke glowingly of the landscape, and below is his depiction of Reggio Calabria, which you can find at the Tate Britain in London. He sketched the city during his 1847 visit and completed this oil painting in 1852.

Calabria is an exceptional setting for a book due to its dramatic, untamed landscapes, deep-rooted cultural authenticity, and layers of ancient history—Greek, Byzantine, and Norman—that still influence its traditions and language. Its reputation as a rugged, "forgotten" corner of Italy offers a moody, atmospheric backdrop suitable for mysteries, romances, or historical fiction.

The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna

A sweeping story of immigration, family, betrayal and most importantly, one extraordinary woman. This book is gorgeous, harrowing and magical

by Juliet Grames

Everybody in the Fortuna family knows the story of how the beautiful, fiercely independent Stella, who refused to learn to cook and who swore she would never marry, has escaped death time and time again.

From her childhood in Italy to her adulthood in America, death has seemed to pursue Stella. She has been burned, eviscerated and bludgeoned; she has choked, nearly fallen out of a window, and on one occasion, her life was only saved by a typo.

However, even the best-known stories still have secrets to reveal . . . and even after a century, Stella's is no exception.

No woman survives seven or eight deaths without a reason. So, how did she? In a tale which spans nine decades, two continents, and one family's darkest, deepest-buried truths, the answer awaits. . .

Stolen Figs: And Other Adventures in Calabria

"Calabria deserves to be discovered, and Mark Rotella is an enthusiastic and compassionate guide, travelling from the top to the toe of this least-known region of Italy to uncover the people, the food and the folk traditions that make up his Calabrian heritage."

by Mark Rotella

Mark Rotella's Stolen Figs is a marvellous evocation of Calabria and Calabrians, whose way of life is largely untouched by the commerce that has made Tuscany and Umbria into international tourist redoubts. A grandson of Calabrian immigrants, Rotella persuades his father to visit the region for the first time in thirty years; once there, he meets Giuseppe, a postcard photographer who becomes his guide to all things Calabrian. As they travel around the region, Giuseppe initiates Rotella—and the reader—into its secrets: how to make soppressata and 'nduja, where to find hidden chapels and grottoes, and, of course, how to steal a fig without actually committing a crime. Stolen Figs is a model travelogue—at once charming and wise, and full of the earthy and unpretentious sense of life that, now as ever, characterises Calabria and its people.

Calabria: The Other Italy

Fun and colourful, this memoir/travel guide takes you by the hand through the bilingual author's 4-year Italian getaway experience, highlighted by her time in Calabria.

by Karen Haid

From the moment author Karen Haid set foot on the soil of this mysterious backwater, she was fascinated by the characteristic determination of its people, the wealth of its history and art, the beauty and variety of its landscape, and the rich culture, most often celebrated for its extraordinary culinary offerings. She presents a contemporary picture of the people and the place, putting the reader in her shoes, both as a resident and traveller in this oft-neglected region of Italy.

“Calabria: The Other Italy” is a journey through a part of Italy that most people don’t explore much. It’s packed with colourful stories, like encounters with the friendly Calabrese folks and even tales of a windsurfing saint. You’ll find out about the incredible 2,500-year-old Riace Bronzes and meet a couple of dancing giants along the way. As the author dives into the beauty of Calabria, there’s so much to see—from ancient castles and stunning beaches to soaring mountains. She teaches English, picks up some Italian, tackles issues with crime, hops on trains, and deals with the post office. The journey includes visits to museums and historic spots, enjoying local festivals, relaxing at a spa, and making quick trips to Sicily and Basilicata. Throughout her travels, she picks up life lessons and savours amazing food, including intense wild liquorice and the one-of-a-kind bergamot fruit. This lively travelogue gives an inside look at the daily life, culture, history, arts, food, and tourism of Calabria, a gorgeous but sometimes complicated region in southern Italy.

The Land Where Lemons Grow: The Story of Italy and Its Citrus Fruit

A delightful book about Italy's unexpected history, told through its citrus fruits

by Helena Attlee

The story of citrus is a colourful thread that runs through Italy's history! Helena Attlee combines travel writing with history, delicious recipes, horticulture, and art to take readers on a delightful journey through Italy's rich cultural, moral, culinary, and political past. A talented garden writer, Attlee fell in love with citrus over ten years ago, and her book is like a modern-day adventure inspired by Hercules' quest for the golden fruit of the Hesperides. Join her on this exciting exploration!

She writes with great lucidity, charm and gentle humour, and wears her considerable learning lightly . . . Helena Attlee's elegant, absorbing prose and sure-footed ability to combine the academic with the anecdotal, make The Land Where Lemons Grow a welcome addition to the library of citrologists and Italophiles alike' The Times Literary Supplement

Echoes of War

This is the story of one woman’s determination to find her place in a world that men are threatening to tear apart. A heart-rending novel inspired by a true story

by Tania Blanchard

Calabria, Italy, 1936

In a remote farming village nestled in the mountains that descend into the sparkling Ionian Sea, young and spirited Giulia Tallariti longs for something more. While she loves her home and her lively family, she would much rather follow in her nonna’s footsteps and pursue her dream of becoming a healer.

But as Mussolini’s focus shifts to the war in Europe, civil unrest looms. Whispers of war are at every corner, and her beloved village, once safe from the fascist agenda of the North, is now in very real danger.

Caught between her desire to forge her own path and her duty to her family, Giulia must draw on the passion in her heart and the strength of her conviction. Can she find a way to fulfil her dreams, or will the echoes of war drown out her voice?

Black Souls

This is much more than a crime novel. It is a highly intelligent meditation on how men grow into evil and end up with black souls

by Gioacchino Criaco, Hillary Gulley (Translator)

In the remote Aspromonte Mountains in southern Calabria, Italy, three best friends embark on a life of crime in order to raise themselves up out of the poverty of their childhoods and the suffering of their parents. Brainy Luciano, the behind-the-scenes schemer, was orphaned as a little boy when the local mob boss had his postman father executed. Lazy, jovial Luigi has learned that there’s no point in following the rules, since there is no path to riches for poor boys. And completing the triumvirate is the nameless narrator, from whose black soul comes the inspiration and energy for each new criminal project, from kidnapping to armed robbery to heroin dealing to contract killing.

Set in the birthplace of the ’Ndrangheta, Calabria’s ruthless and ubiquitous mafia, Black Souls draws on centuries of brigand lore, peasant rebellion history, mountain mythology, and colonial suffering to offer a gripping morality tale about how violence begets violence

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IN THE KITCHEN:

While the food of Calabria is predominantly what you’d think of as Italian, it also shows unique traces of French, Spanish, and Arabic influences, owing to the invasions and plunder it has endured. The laid-back philosophy of “riposo”, or rest, welcomes you as you arrive at this majestic land of coastlines and mountains.

Similar in some ways to Sicilian cuisine just south of this region, the beauty of Calabrian food really does lie in its rich history. Calabrian cuisine is a bold, spicy, and rustic "cucina povera" (peasant cooking) defined by chilli peppers (peperoncino), pork products, and red onions from Tropea. Iconic dishes include 'Nduja (spicy spreadable pork), Fileja pasta, Morzello (spiced tripe stew), Sardella (anchovy/chilli paste), and Tartufo di Pizzo hazelnut ice cream.

From lamb and pork to eggplant and seafood, Calabrian cuisine is packed with fresh meats, zestful produce, and the best homegrown spices for a good time, no matter your preferences.

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