Join us

Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Newsletter

Nicola Lagioia

The City of the Living

Cover: The City of the Living - Nicola Lagioia

Nicola Lagioia

The City of the Living

2023, pp. 456, e-Book
ISBN: 9781787704008
Translated by: Ann Goldstein
Region: Italy
Paper Paper Paper
£ 12.99
Where to buy Where to buy Where to buy

The book

A spellbinding investigation of one of the most vicious crimes in recent Italian history and a journey into the darkest corners of Rome and of the human soul

“Fiction at its best – fiction that breathes life into the facts of reality.”—Domenico Starnone, Corriere della Sera

“Reading some books can be an experience as extreme as the story they tell . . . This is the case with Nicola Lagioia’s The City of the Living.”—la Repubblica

“A magnificent panorama of Rome, dark and rotting.”—Domani

In March 2016, in a nondescript apartment on the outskirts of Rome, Manuel Foffo and Marco Prato, two “ordinary” young men from good families, brutally tortured and murdered twenty-two-year-old Luca Varani. News of the seemingly inexplicable crime sent shockwaves across Rome and beyond. What motivated such extreme violence? 

In the weeks and months after the crime comes to light, Lagioia conducts interviews, collects documents, meets with the victim’s family, and even starts corresponding with one of the killers. As it soon becomes clear, however, to investigate this crime means to descend into the dark heart of Rome. 

Proceeding in concentric circles, Nicola Lagioia leads us through a maze of betrayed expectations, sexual confusion, inability to grow up, economic grievances, crises of identity—progressively tightening the focus of the analysis to locate the breaking point after which anything is possible.

Sharp, hypnotic, devastating: The City of The Living is an investigation not just of a crime but of human nature itself; of the tension between responsibility and guilt, between the drive to oppress and the desire to be free; of who we are and who we can become.

The author

Nicola Lagioia
One of Italy’s most critically acclaimed contemporary novelists, Nicola Lagioia has been the recipient of the Volponi, Straniero, and Viareggio awards, in addition to the Strega. In 2010 he was named one of Italy’s best writers under forty. He has been a jury member of the Venice Film Festival and is the program director of the Turin Book Fair. Lagioia is a contributor to Italy’s most prominent culture pages. He was born in Bari, and lives in Rome. Ferocity is his English-language debut.

Books by region

  • Cover: Tangerinn - Emanuela Anechoum

    Emanuela Anechoum

    Tangerinn

    2026, pp. 256, £ 14.99
    The novel for a displaced generation
  • Cover: The Fire - Cecilia Sala

    Cecilia Sala

    The Fire

    2026, pp. 208, £ 14.99
    An unflinching portrait of a generation fighting for change in Iran, Afghanistan, and Ukraine 
  • Cover: The Burning Origin - Daniele Mencarelli

    Daniele Mencarelli

    The Burning Origin

    2025, pp. 250, £ 14.99
    A searing story about homecoming, set in Rome
  • Cover: My Brilliant Friend: The Four Volumes - Elena Ferrante

    Elena Ferrante

    My Brilliant Friend: The Four Volumes

    2025, pp. 1200, £ 45.00
    “High stakes, subversive literature.”— The Telegraph When Elena Ferrante set out to write the story of Elena and Lila, she conceived...
  • Cover: The Feeling of Iron - Giaime Alonge

    Giaime Alonge

    The Feeling of Iron

    2025, pp. 300, £ 9.99
    A gripping historical thriller that bridges the horrors of World War II and the geopolitical complexities of the 1980s
  • Cover: The Brittle Age - Donatella Di Pietrantonio

    Donatella Di Pietrantonio

    The Brittle Age

    2025, pp. 192, £ 14.99
    A powerful mother-and-daughter story, a profound exploration of human fragility, and of the haunting shadows of the past

More suggestions

  • Cover: Tangerinn - Emanuela Anechoum

    Emanuela Anechoum

    Tangerinn

    2026, pp. 256, £ 14.99
    The novel for a displaced generation
  • Cover: Mass Mothering - Sarah Bruni

    Sarah Bruni

    Mass Mothering

    2026, pp. 255, £ 12.99
    A haunting, indelible novel of collective grief, resistance, and the life-affirming virtue of testimony
  • Cover: Madelaine Before The Dawn - Sandrine Collette

    Sandrine Collette

    Madelaine Before The Dawn

    2026, pp. 208, £ 12.99
    A spellbinding tale of female defiance and rage
  • Cover: Floodlines - Saleem Haddad

    Saleem Haddad

    Floodlines

    2026, pp. 350, £ 14.99
    A sweeping, multi-generational novel that traces the fractured bonds between three Iraqi-British sisters
  • Cover: Dominion - Addie E. Citchens

    Addie E. Citchens

    Dominion

    2026, pp. 208, £ 16.99
    A scorching drama full of secrets and sin
  • Cover: The Burning Origin - Daniele Mencarelli

    Daniele Mencarelli

    The Burning Origin

    2025, pp. 250, £ 14.99
    A searing story about homecoming, set in Rome