Reading list

Venice in Books

Books with scenes in Venice, each with places marked on the map. Plus books chosen for a similar mood.

6 books · 4 with Venice scenes, 2 chosen for their mood · Venice places on the map

What books are set in Venice?

4 books on Storyland have scenes in Venice: Death in Venice by Thomas Mann, Death at La Fenice by Donna Leon, The Aspern Papers by Henry James, and Cry to Heaven by Anne Rice — each pinned to a Venice location you can visit.

  • Death in Venice by Thomas Mann
  • Death at La Fenice by Donna Leon
  • The Aspern Papers by Henry James
  • Cry to Heaven by Anne Rice

  1. Death in Venice

    Thomas Mann

    Venice scenes

    Mann's novella of beauty and decay, set on the Lido and the sinking city's canals.

    Places: The Lido & the canals

  2. Death at La Fenice

    Donna Leon

    Venice scenes

    Commissario Brunetti's first case opens at the opera house and winds through real Venetian life.

    Places: Venice — La Fenice & beyond

  3. The Aspern Papers

    Henry James

    Venice scenes

    James's tale of obsession set in the quiet, faded grandeur of a Venice backwater.

    Places: A decaying Venetian palazzo

  4. Cry to Heaven

    Anne Rice

    Venice scenes

    Rice's lavish Venice of opera houses and palazzi in the age of the castrati.

    Places: 18th-century Venice

  5. Invisible Cities

    Italo Calvino

    Read for the mood

    Marco Polo describes a thousand cities to Kublai Khan — every one of them, secretly, Venice.

  6. The Lies of Locke Lamora

    Scott Lynch

    Read for the mood

    A canal-laced fantasy city of thieves built unmistakably on Venice's bones.

Reading your way into Venice

From Mann's fevered Lido to Donna Leon's working canals, Venice rewards the reader who arrives by book. The books below are drawn from Storyland's book↔place engine and checked against real locations.

Frequently asked

What books are set in Venice?

Storyland lists 4 books with scenes in Venice: Death in Venice by Thomas Mann, Death at La Fenice by Donna Leon, The Aspern Papers by Henry James, and Cry to Heaven by Anne Rice. Their Venice places are marked on the map.

What should I read before visiting Venice?

Before visiting Venice, read Death in Venice by Thomas Mann (The Lido & the canals), Death at La Fenice by Donna Leon (Venice — La Fenice & beyond), The Aspern Papers by Henry James (A decaying Venetian palazzo), and Cry to Heaven by Anne Rice (18th-century Venice). Each has scenes in Venice, with the places marked on the map.