This collection of short stories contains so many different voices but the voice of Rome links them together. The stories felt a bit lonely to me, people sidelined because of age, religion, ethnicity or searching for something missing in their lives.

Jhumpa Lahiri is a wonderful story teller.

A great short read.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me to read Roman Stories.

I love Lahari's work and was delighted to get the opportunity to read this collection where Rome herself is a character. The descriptions, the colours, the language, the people. This was vastly enjoyable read. One or two of the stories blew me away but all are consistently excellent, thought provoking and satisifying as Lahiri examines aging, love, loss, emigration, race amid the Roman piazzas.

There are shades of Whereabouts in this book, the lack of specific details, names, countries other than Italy are missing and while this worked in Whereabouts as a reader it worked less so for me in this collection. I felt the lack of this detail. That's my only criticism. Translation as impressive as previous, I learned two new words, which is always a delight and several of these characters stories will remain with me, I just wish I knew their names.

4.5 stars.

A series of short stories set in Rome featuring everyday lives with a multitude of characters. Through the mundanity of their lives, Lahiri delves into their well being and captures the daily emotional struggles in each character. The stories underpin the social issues facing us all in a clever nuanced manner. She explores language and views towards migrants in thought-provoking tales. An absorbing read.

Roman Stories is a collection of short stories set in and around Rome, translated from Italian. I enjoyed the stories which provided local colour and atmosphere and insight into the everyday life and loves of Roman people, both native and transplanted. There weren't any stand-out stories for me, but no stinkers either.

A recommended read.

I've read a couple of Lahiri's books previously and loved them, hence why I applied for this one, which lived up to my expectations.

I like the way that the author plays with perception, by being opaque about her characters' backgrounds and histories, but in such a way that it doesn't feel like you're missing anything.

I can't pick a favourite out of these stories; they were all so good.

Roman Stories is a quiet and contemplative collection of short stories from acclaimed writer Jhumpa Lahiri, translated by the author and Todd Portnowitz from her original Italian language versions, Each of the stories is set in Rome, and in many ways it almost feels like the city itself is a character , one that unifies the collection.
As always the writing is beautiful, lyrical and poetic without being over done, and I admire how well the author is able to capture the feel of her adopted home, be it in describing famous tourist attractions like the Spanish Steps, or smaller details like the marble floored apartments. I wouldn't exactly describe it as a sad book, but there is a sense of loss that pervades many of the stories. I appreciated that the stories were about a real mix of characters, immigrants, expatriates and tourists as well as native Italians all make an appearance.
Admirer's of the author's previous works will not be disappointed.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

A highly immersive book. You can see, hear, feel and almost taste the experiences the author draws, quite effortlessly.

Jhumpa Lahiri’s story collection is marked by an atmosphere of melancholy and sense of loss. Lahiri has adopted Rome as a second home and these stories were originally written in Italian. But despite Lahiri’s obvious love for Rome she doesn’t shy away from the harsher realities of life in contemporary Italy. A number of her narratives centre the experiences of apparent outsiders, often immigrants facing an outpouring of deep-seated racism: “The Boundary” told by the child of caretakers for a rural, holiday home, whose family ended up there because of a brutal attack on her father in the city; “The Delivery” and “Notes” depict the experiences of isolated women both victims of prejudice, one violently assaulted, the other confronted by a more insidious form of hatred, neither confident that they can report these hate crimes and be taken seriously; and “A Well-Lit House” in which a man’s family is destroyed by the actions of his neighbours who single them out because of perceived difference. Other pieces dwell on other forms of loss from the bereaved, middle-age couple in “The Procession” to aging husband dreaming of what might have been in “P’s Parties.” “The Steps” is a longer story revolving around a location in Rome that’s become a haunt for groups of teenage boys and the various reactions and experiences of people who pass through this place. There are no pyrotechnics here, these are quiet, acutely observed, a series of moving, poignant reflections on feelings of estrangement, exile, and the aftermath of discrimination. Translated by the author and Todd Portnowitz.

Jhumpa Lahiri’s Interpreter of Maladies is one of my favourite short story collections so I was delighted to get a hold of her latest short story collection Roman Stories which is set in Rome.

This collection is an ode to Rome, with the city being the the central character around which the short stories revolves. Sometimes it’s merely a backdrop, other times it’s woven into the very identities of the protagonists and many of the stories explore the changing face of the city – with multi-culturalism and belonging featuring as a theme in many of the stories with well-to-do expats, immigrants, and native Romans featuring and their impressions of what belonging to the city really means. One of the standout stories which captures this mix of people from all walks of life is The Steps – steps which connect two neighbours in Rome, in the evening they are a hangout for teenagers drinking with their friends, during the day an immigrant woman minding someone else’s children passes, as does an ex-pat woman missing her old home in upstate New York and an elderly and vulnerable woman who is nervous of the gangs of youths hanging out there. All these people pass through this location and it effects them in uniquely different ways.
Other stand out stories for me were P’s Party where a writer becomes obsessed with his wife’s friend and the last story in the collection Dante Alighieri where an American women who has lived most of her life in Rome returns for her mother-in-law’s funeral and reflects on the betrayals in her life and how Dante has impacted her life right from her teenage years.
The precise and elegant writing that is Lahiri’s trademark features heavily within the stories and what’s most impressive is that they were written by her in Italian, some of which she translated into English herself and others were done by Todd Portnowitz It’s a beautiful short story collection that I’d highly recommend both to those who love Lahiri’s prose and those who love Italy… Now the only thing left for me to do is book a trip to visit Rome again, right?

I first read Racconti Romani in Italian and I loved and greatly admired the premise of this collection - the collection explores and centres the lives of Romans whose stories we do not hear nearly enough of such as those of refugees who are subject to racism, xenophobia and micro-aggressions in Rome daily. However, I didn’t feel as though style used was as effective as in Dove mi trovo (Whereabouts). In Dove mi trovo, Lahiri uses similarly short sentences and punctuates these in a similar way. For those not familiar with reading in Italian, Lahiri’s short sentences and punctuation are very much not typical of writing in Italian. This is not per se a bad thing and in Dove mi trovo it was refreshing and was effective as it reflected the distance that the protagonist wanted to keep from the reader).

When reading the Italian version, there wasn’t anything significant that stood out to me as presenting any difficulties for translation (I say this as a translator). The only thing that seems odd about the English translation are the decisions made about the titles. In particular I found the choice to change the title of Il ritiro (lit. The pick-up or the collection) to The Delivery an odd choice considering that the main heart-breaking event of the story takes place whilst the protagonist tries to collect a parcel. A number of the English titles, to me feel a little stale and bland which was not the case with the Italian titles.

P’s Parties is the story in which Lahiri uses the distance between the reader and the narrator to greatest effect in that we get a clear tense of a mild ominous tone from the outset. The Boundary, The Delivery, Well-Lit House were all markedly heart-wrenching and are stand-outs that I would highly recommend. In these, Lahiri’s control of word choice is deftly employed to often devastate the reader in a single sentence. (I also particularly liked the interconnectedness of The Steps and the fact that in this story the staircase itself was a character.)

Beautiful writing, evocative Italian scenery and culture blended with poignant characterisation and Lahiri's empathic understanding of human beings. The beauty of Rome and its life is juxtaposed in these stories with raw, messy human pain and brokenness. At first I wasn't sure if these stories were for me but actually, the longer I sit with them the more I realise how the snapshots of these protagonist's lives have stayed with me. Lahiri's writing is spare, precise and poetic and the layers to these short stories are exquisite. To read slowly and savour.
This honest review is given with thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this book.

Beautiful, astonishing and immersive writing. I didn’t expect to enjoy this book as much as I did, but I inhaled this stunning work in one sitting, and I’m immediately going to look for more work by Lahiri. (The translator has also done a remarkable job).

Thank you so, so much to PanMacmillan and NetGalley for this privilege.

A deceptively simple chiaroscuro of experience, burdens, hopes and dreams.

In 1954 Alberto Moravia published a series of 61 short stories in the Il Corriere della Sera. They may be loosely called morality tales featuring common people, Romans.

This time round Lahiri too writes about common people, in a way Romans too because they live in Roman but then the diversions begin. Because to be a true Roman you need to be born Roman from Roman stock dating back generations. It's in the blood.

So Lahiri's people, those that live in her stories cannot really be called Roman because although they live in Rome, they are outsiders too, all with their own stories. So the stories show us these people, giving them a voice, a story. She shows us how they have to integrate their personal histories, country of origin, culture, past, needs together while trying to integrate in a city which does not always have it's arms wide open in welcome.

An ARC kindly given by author/publisher via Netgalley.

A collection of several short stories, all set in Rome, and describing the lives of local residents, and how the small moments of their lives make up their own personal universe of suffering. The stories are split into three parts, each with multiple stories within it.

Some stories were astonishingly good, especially those dealing with the experience of foreigners in Italy. The experiences many of the characters go through are infuriating and frustrating. A lot is centred around the impact of small cruelties on a person's ability to look themselves in the mirror, and how this can be soul-destroying.

Other stories are about the minute events in local roman residents' lives, and describe, essentially, loneliness and dejection. A strong theme seems to be loss and being alone, even if its in a crowd.

All the stories are gentle and mild in nature, with a very subtle emotional overtone, hiding a tumultuous, and often crushing, undertone. This delivery, in particular, is what I loved about the book. It is, more than anything, aesthetically artful, and, as such, feels like walking around in a gallery. I also loved how the characters, and yes - all of them, felt almost life like, with strong motivations, emotions, and internal multi dimensionality.

My favourite stories are probably "Well-Lit House", about a Muslim immigrant and the destructive impact xenophobia has on his family, and "The Delivery", about how much fear hate can instill in a person.

The main reason for not giving it 5 stars is the lack of cohesiveness in the book overall. I struggled to understand how the stories relate to each other, and why they are presented in the order they were presented in. It felt more like a random collection of stories, vs a book of short stories.

Highly recommended, especially to anyone exploring loneliness and social rejection as a theme. The stories are a fantastic introduction to the author, if you've not had the chance to read her work previously.

My thanks to Netgally and the publisher for providing me with an early copy of this book in return for an honest review.

In a Nutshell: I admire what the author attempted with this collection, but I don’t admire the collection itself.

I am a huge fan of Jhumpa Lahiri. About two decades ago, I had taken a chance on a new Indian author who had won the Pulitzer for her debut story collection, ‘Interpreter of Maladies.’ The stories blew me away, and to date, it remains one of my favourite single-author compilations. ‘Unaccustomed Earth’, her second collection, was almost as good. I have also read her full-length novels, of which I found ‘The Namesake’ the best, but I believe that Ms. Lahiri is good at novels and outstanding at short stories.

Then came updates that she had married an Italian, settled in Rome, was learning Italian, and now onwards, would write only in Italian. I had mixed feelings about this last piece of information. On the one hand, writing a whole book/story in a new language is a huge task. It takes immense talent to pull it off, and I wasn’t in doubt of Lahiri’s prowess. At the same time, I wondered if her style would come across as well in the new vernacular. Reading ‘Roman Stories’ has provided me an answer to my curiosity.

‘Roman Stories’, a collection of nine stories, was originally written by the author in Italian in 2022, and has been translated to English by the author and Todd Portnowitz. (I am not sure why a fluent English writer needed assistance from a translator to convert her works TO English. Anyway…)

Lahiri’s writing has always had a beautiful, picturesque feel. She can capture a scene like no one else, and her words make the entire story come alive in my imagination. This book is no exception. I never once felt as if I was reading a translation, or that there was some gap between thought and word. Her lines flow like a movie through your mind.

She is also a master at capturing emotions, especially poignant ones. Her characters always have this aura of vulnerability around them. As they are trying to get a hang of their day-to-day life and its perils, their feelings of inadequacy and loneliness come across clearly through their thoughts. Lahiri’s stories are written mostly in first person, thereby giving us an “insider view” of the character’s sentiments.

If you are familiar with her short stories, you will know that she doesn’t write entertainment, but slice-of-life character-oriented narratives. So if you are looking for a neat start-middle-end plot progression with a happy ending, this isn’t the book for you. The stories here are strongly character-driven, with the plot primarily being a vignette that reveals the character in and out. This collection is thereby better suited to literary fiction lovers.

On the other hand, the collection disappointed me much on a couple of counts. While the title should have prepared me for the fact that these were *Roman* stories, I took a long while to accept that none of the stories would have an Indian connection. To me, Jhumpa Lahiri has been one of the very few acclaimed expat authors to capture the essence of the Indian immigrant experience without resorting to stereotypes. So I felt a little betrayed (and a lot heartbroken) that she has clearly moved away from India in her writing and made Italy entirely her own.

Of course, the stories don’t feel like they have been written by someone who is relatively new to Italy. There’s an undertone of authenticity to every single tale, and had I not been aware of the author’s background, I would have assumed the writer to be Italian. Of course, I can't vouch for the accuracy of the Roman portrayal with as much confidence as I would have for an India-based collection.

Most of her protagonists are outsiders in some way or the other. Though not necessarily immigrants, they either aren’t or don’t feel like they belong in Rome, and hence their perception is always from the outside-in. Because of the intimate writing style, we also feel one with their feelings of not fitting in. But this also means that the picture we get of Rome is somewhat limited, with many denizens of the city depicted as being aloof, if not worse, to outsiders.

Moreover, the use of the first-person in the mostly melancholic stories means that after a while, the tales start feeling repetitive despite their distinct plotline. The motions explored should have been wider in range. I also didn’t like the decision of not naming any character, and where needed, using vague cues such as an initial or their gender or their profession to refer to them. It sounded awkward and kept me from connecting with the characters.

The nine stories are divided across three sections, but I couldn’t figure out any logical explanation for the compartmentalisation. The middle section comprises just one lengthy story divided into multiple episodes with distinct characters.

As always, I rated the stories individually, and except for a couple of tales, most were around the 3-3.5 star mark. Even for the stories that didn't satisfy me as much, I was invested in the writing from start to end. My favourite of this collection was ‘The Steps’, the extensive story in the middle section. I loved how it spanned various character experiences around some steps in the heart of the city. I also enjoyed ‘The Boundary’, a somewhat contemplative story about a caretaker’s daughter and her experiences with the family who has rented the house the girl works in; and ‘Notes’, an unusual but deep story best experienced by going into it blind.

All in all, I am not sure if my experience was so mixed because my expectations were too high, or because the works weren’t originally in English and hence lost something in translation, or because I wanted more of India. Whatever the reason may be, the fact is that I liked much of the writing but not so much of the content, if that makes sense.

Recommended to literary fiction readers who would enjoy a slice-of-life style story collection, with Rome being the city in focus.

3.4 stars, based on the average of my ratings for each story.

My thanks to Pan Macmillan and NetGalley for the DRC of “Roman Stories”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

Jhumpa Lahiri's "Roman Stories" is a captivating collection of tales that beautifully weave together the charm of Rome and the often complex, nuanced experiences of its immigrant inhabitants. With her signature finesse and meticulous attention to detail, Lahiri draws readers into the very soul of the ancient city, making one feel as if they're meandering through its cobbled streets and engaging with its diverse citizens.

⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Roman Stories
by Jhumpa Lahiri

I was drawn to this collection of 9 short stories by it's setting, as the title states, they are all set in Rome. It's really the only thing that connects them, so I expected a strong sense of place, which didn't come across.

Some are from the perspective of immigrants or tourists and don't paint a warm picture of the citizens of Rome, shamelessly racist and xenophobic. I had a giggle at the notion of a room let that included modern sofa and lighting alongside gilded mirrors, a wonky crystal chandelier and a piano; how very Roman. This was one of my favourite stories, The Procession, which punches above its weight with a theme of grief.

I also enjoyed Ps Parties for it's episodic arc and humour and Notes for it's quirkiness.

Publication date: 12th October 2023
Thank you to #netgalley and #panmacmillan for providing an ARC for review

#bookreview #irishbookstagram
#romanstories
#jhumpalahiri #womenintranslation #intranslation #translatedliterature #shortstories

The author is new to me, but a quick internet search tells me that she’s London born, American raised but with Indian heritage. She moved to Rome around 2011 and fell in love with the city, and though work means that these days she’s not always in the city, emotionally she’s never left.

This collection of short stories, each set in or around the Eternal City, are of variable length, but share an ability to stir the emotions. There’s everything here from hopefulness, lust and longing to regret, betrayal and death – and all points in between. Interestingly, each tale is de-personalised in the sense that no names are used, just ‘the woman’, ‘the mourner’, or simply a capitalised letter which presumably denotes the beginning of a Christian name. Is this because the author believes the players in her stories don’t matter, it’s the situation she wants us to focus on? Or perhaps I’m over thinking it, or just failing to grasp Jhumpa’s true motivation. Either way, I suppose this devise does bring another kind of uniformity to the tales.

A number of the stories feature immigrants living in the city. These people tend to be in low paid employment and struggling to get by or at least conflicted, accepting why they’re no longer living in their homeland but anxious and conflicted regarding the cultural values in this place they now find themselves. The stories are told from multiple viewpoints: both male and female, the young and the old, a middle aged man stirred by thoughts of an affair and a couple lamenting the loss of a young son. As always with such a collection, some grabbed me more than others, but the quality of the writing here, the insights provided and the emotions provoked, is consistently high.

My favourite story concerns a man who briefly meets a woman under unusual circumstances at a party and thereafter becomes somewhat obsessed by her. I read it twice, so taken was I with it. In fact, this is a collection I could readily read through again – I’m sure I’d find things I overlooked first time around and appreciate details that previously passed me by. It’s a superb collection, one that I’d urge all lovers of short fiction to seek it out. I’ll certainly be looking out for more offerings from this exceptionally gifted writer.

It feels so good to be reading a new Jhumpa Lahiri book. This feels like a return to her short story roots, but I a very different context. You can sense her mixed feelings towards Rome. I loved how each story is from the ‘outsiders’ pov.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my free digital ARC!

I had so much fun (relatively speaking, this is a pretty melancholy collection) reading the newest Jhumpa Lahiri collection on the back of Interpreter of Maladies last month! It was fascinating to see how her style has developed, especially as Roman Stories were initially written in Italian and translated into English by the author and Todd Portnowitz. I had my fingers crossed that there’d be an author/translator note at the end where she talks about the process of translating her own work as a bilingual author, but alas, there wasn’t one 😭 Maybe there will be in the finished copy!
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The themes of this collection are both similar and different to Interpreter of Maladies. It’s a more cohesive collection because all the stories are set in Rome and focus on people either born and raised in Rome or who have made Rome their home later on. I loved all the reflection on what makes a place a home, who gets to call a place home in some (bigoted) people’s eyes, and basically just Rome as a city. It’s not somewhere I’ve been but from this collection I’m thinking it’s a gorgeous city filled with history but it can also be quite unforgiving. There’s a lot of stories that centre around being a ‘foreigner’ living in Rome, and I thought they all brought something different to the table. Sometimes with themed collections you can feel like you’re being hit over the head with the ~message~ but not so here.
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The book is split into three sections, with 4 stories, then sort of interlinked vignettes, then 4 more stories. Looking back at my buddy read comments I left for Nadia @the.storygraph, it seems the first set of stories and the vignettes made the biggest impression on me! I especially loved the vignettes as it was interesting to see Rome through the eyes of such a varied group of people, based around one particular set of steps. I think my favourite story (and definitely the saddest of the lot) was Well-Lit House, where a man finds himself homeless after rightwing protestors and rising xenophobia force his family out of their flat.
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Overall, super cohesive collection, most of stories pack an emotional punch, and the writing feels clear and fresh in translation! I’m dying to know whether she thinks in English, then translates into Italian or what. I think this *might* be talked about in In Other Words so I’ll have to check that out!