Six Milan-Set Novels to Read Ahead of Vogue World: Milano

Ahead of Vogue World: Milano on September 22, a curated list of six novels set in Milan offers literary perspectives on the city. Ernest Hemingway, who arrived in Milan in June 1918 and convalesced there after injuries on the Piave front, described it as 'a peach of a town' and later wrote 'A Farewell to Arms' (1929), drawing on his experiences, including a romance with an English nurse and visits to the San Siro racecourse. Dino Buzzati's 'A Love Affair' (1963) follows architect Antonio Dorigo's obsessive pursuit of a young prostitute named Laide, with Milan's streets becoming intertwined with his fixation. Jonathan Bazzi's 'Febbre' contrasts the working-class suburb of Rozzano with Milan, where he feels his life truly begins after an HIV diagnosis. Alessandro Manzoni's classic 'The Betrothed' depicts 17th-century Milan as a chaotic metropolis, where protagonist Renzo encounters bread riots and the plague. Elena Ferrante's 'Those Who Flee and Those Who Stay,' the third volume of the Neapolitan Novels, shows Milan during the economic boom, with locations like the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II and La Rinascente. Tea Hacic-Vlahovic's 'Life of the Party' portrays Milan's nightlife through Mia, a Croatian-American fashion student in the early 2000s, exploring the search for authenticity amid hedonism. These works collectively reveal Milan as a literary muse, from historical epics to contemporary memoirs.