Books like La Romana by Alberto Moravia

Agent of Byzantium is a historical fiction novel by Harry Turtledove that blends imaginative storytelling with historical context.

The ribald new masterpiece by one of the world's great novelists -- an unflinching view of private lives in Roman of mid-20th century.

"The two women of Alberto Moravia's powerful story are mother and daughter - Cesira, a widowed Roman shopkeeper, and Rosetta, a naive teenager of haunting beauty and devout faith. When the German army prepares to occupy Rome, Cesira packs a few provisions, sews her life savings into the seams of her dress, and flees south with Rosetta to her native province of Ciociara, a poor, mountainous region famous for providing the domestic servants of Rome. For nine months the two women endure hunger, cold, and filth as they await the arrival of the Allied forces.". "But the Liberation, when it comes, brings unexpected tragedy. On their way home the pair are attacked and Rosetta brutally raped by a group of Allied Moroccan soldiers. This act of violence so embitters Rosetta that she falls numbly into a life of prostitution. In his story of two women Moravia offers up an intimate portrayal of the anguish and destruction wrought by war, as devastating behind the lines as it is on the battlefield."--BOOK JACKET.

Artemisia Gentileschi, apprenticed by her painter father Orazio, rises from scandal after being raped by a close associate to win a landmark courtroom battle, gaining acclaim among Rome’s elite.

Explains the principles and techniques of good writing, and discusses the seven basic technical matters that beginning writers must constantly bear in mind.

Racconti romani (Roman Tales) is a series of sixty-one short stories. Written and published initially in the Italian newspaper, Il Corriere della Sera, they were published as a collection in 1954 by Bompiani. All of the stories are set in Rome or its surroundings after World War II and focus on 'the common people of Rome' (Roma popolana). The characters in these stories tend to be the unemployed, ex-convicts, waiters, drivers, con artists, thieves and petty criminals, the average man (or woman) and the lower classes aspiring to climb out of poverty. All the stories are told in the first person with the narrator often unnamed, although details are usually furnished to provide a clue to the narrator's identity, such as their occupation, motivations and social status. Moravia's Racconti Romani provide a snapshot on life in Rome after World War II, revealing much about the inhabitants of Rome in the early 1950s.