Six Days in Rome

"Francesca Giacco is a stunning writer and Six Days in Rome is a brilliant transporting experience—a novel about belonging with heart and heat; a gorgeous and literary holiday."

“Sometimes it takes a three-thousand-year-old city to feel brand new. Six Days in Rome unfolds with all the crisp wonderment of a two-star hotel map. Sensorial as hell, it acknowledges the major landmarks and thoroughfares, but knows you have to get lost in the invisible, the unrendered to find what you didn’t know you were looking for. An ode to funky wine labels, good taste, and true inspiration, Francesca Giacco has penned a stunningly cool and stylish debut.”

"If Sally Rooney and Frances Mayes co-wrote a novel in an Airbnb near the Spanish Steps, it might read something like Six Days in Rome. Smart, keenly observed, and deeply felt, this is a book for anyone who's ever journeyed abroad to find themselves."

"Giacco's debut is an intimate, entertaining, clear-eyed evocation of a disillusioned young female artist's coming of age amongst the ruins of Rome and like her heart-broken narrator, very good company."

"Six Days in Rome is a masterful debut—a literary travelogue that maps both the internal and external, capturing the intimate fireworks of heartbreak and the endless question of identity, alongside the sumptuous backdrop of Rome. Francesca Giacco has written a novel as artful as it is affecting."

"Giacco’s rendering of collecting pieces of a shattered heart is relatable and encouraging . . . But an even greater draw is the feeling that just under a week in Italy really is included in the cover price, through descriptions of pistachio gelato drowned in olive oil, jasmine snaking up a crumbled Roman column, and exchanging the deep love of a partner for the rough kiss of an espresso-drinking stranger."

“In this sensual novel of rage, heartbreak, and desire, a young artist named Emilia travels to Rome to reckon with the end of a relationship. When an encounter with an American expat sparks a new connection, Emilia begins to see herself in a new light—both as a woman and as an artist.”

"Elegant . . . Upscale escapism."

"Sensual and deliberately paced . . . Giacco revels in her setting, providing rich descriptions of the streets, food, and people Emilia encounters . . . Sumptuously written."

"Writing—and travel writing in particular—should transport a reader. Surprisingly few authors can successfully do it. Francesca Giacco pulls it off in her debut novel . . . Passion, exploration, and reflection [pair] with evocative descriptions of pasta, glorious wines, magnificent museums, and architectural wonders."

"Part Eat Pray Love, part Heartburn, part family saga, Giacco’s debut novel takes readers on a luscious journey rich in description and emotional resonance . . . Readers will want to linger in this world created by a promising new writer."

"Makes just as much sense of the ancient city at the heart of the book as it does love and heartbreak . . . may inspire you to take a solo journey, even if it's only one of self-discovery."

"Francesca Giacco’s exceptional use of language in Six Days in Rome creates an immensely nuanced protagonist in Emilia . . . Sensational sensory descriptions capture what it feels like to experience Rome’s famous and off-the-beaten-path sights in the sultry July heat, as well as the city’s sounds, touch, smells, and particularly its tastes . . . Giacco’s prose keeps us turning the page . . . for the intimacy she creates between us and Emilia so that we become enraptured in her nuanced journey and, ultimately, deeply care about where she’s been … and where she might be going."

"[A] contemplative, quite moving account of a heartbroken young artist’s overseas trip."