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Roman Stories

Short stories of belonging and displacement in Rome

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About this listen

A collection of short stories set in and around Rome from Jhumpa Lahiri, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Interpreter of Maladies.

'Stimulating, elengant, distinctive and thought-provoking' – Sunday Times

In these short stories Jhumpa Lahiri sets her gaze on the eternally beautiful city of Rome, illuminating the frailties of the human condition and dissecting lives lived on the margins.

A man recalls a summer party that awakens an alternative version of himself. A couple haunted by a tragic loss return to seek consolation. An outsider family is pushed out of the block in which they hoped to settle. A set of steps in a Roman neighbourhood connects the daily lives of the city’s myriad inhabitants.

This is an evocative fresco of Rome, the most alluring character of all: contradictory, in constant transformation and a home to those who know they can’t fully belong but choose it anyway.

Rich with Lahiri’s signature gifts, Roman Stories is a masterful work from one of the finest writers of our time.

Translated from the Italian by Jhumpa Lahiri and Todd Portnowitz

 Anthologies & Short Stories City Life Family Life Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Short Stories South Asian Creators Urban World Literature Italy

Critic reviews

Lahiri [works] over her themes with a precise and controlling intellect . . . These stories are stimulating, elengant, distinctive and thought-provoking
A writer of formidable powers and great depth of feeling
One of the most interesting American writers at work today
Lahiri steps back from the action, gets out of the way, so the people and things in her stories can exist the way real things do: richly, ambiguously, without explanation.
A writer of uncommon elegance and poise
Lahiri has a talent for capturing the everyday
Jhumpa Lahiri is intelligent, astute, informed and genuine
Jhumpa Lahiri is an elegant stylist, effortlessly placing the perfect words in the perfect order time and again so we’re transported seamlessly into another place
Jhumpa Lahiri's writing is wonderful in the literal sense: on every page there is something to take your breath away
Lahiri has an extraordinary voice (Salman Rushdie)
Jhumpa Lahiri is the kind of writer who makes you want to grab the next person you see and say “Read this!” She’s a dazzling storyteller with a distinctive voice, an eye for nuance, an ear for irony. She is one of the finest short story writers I’ve read. (Amy Tan)
An urgent and affecting portrait of Rome in nine stories . . .
Full of humanity and its joys and disappointments, tiny incidents resonate through time and relationships. The city feels like another character, slipping in and out of focus just as the fleeting lives of the characters do too.
All stars
Most relevant
Enjoyed the stories and writing but why was the translation (from Italian) into American English?
Some rather irritating accents and performances.

Beautifully written tales of alienation in a cosmopolitan city

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Not sure what the book was aiming for. Subtle, hidden racism very cleverly depicted as it appears in real life. First and last story very sweet, but doesn’t leave me captivated.

Book left me confused

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I am a huge fan of Lahiri. This matches her best for me, which was the recent book, Whereabouts. She is a get chronicler of people, in these cases persons living in Roman who each have some degree of outsider status, while being powerfully of the city. Loved it. I wish she had a book every year.

Quietly, powerful stories

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tough to get through due to boredom, I wish I hadn't wasted a credit on this

Very green writing that feels unfulfilled

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