Doerr, Harriet.
Consider This Senora. 1993.
Three American women settle in the Mexican hillside, mingling with the local inhabitants as they search for meaning in their lives.
Hellenga, Robert.
The Sixteen Pleasures. 1994.
Margot has come to Florence as a "mud angel" to help restore art treasures damaged by the flood of the Arno River. She becomes involved in both a love affair and a mystery surrounding a Medieval book of erotic sonnets.
Johnson, Diane.
Persian Nights. 1987.
An American woman finds herself unexpectedly alone in Iran after her husband is called home. Initially a charmed observer, she quickly becomes drawn into the local intrigue.
Johnson, Diane.
Le Divorce. 1997.
A young American at loose ends comes to Paris to babysit for her expatriate sister. She soon finds herself in the midst of her sister's divorce while at the same time beginning a controversial affair with a 70 year old Frenchman.
Kingsolver. Barbara.
The Poisonwood Bible. 1998.
It is 1959 and ramrod straight missionary Nathan Price has taken his four daughters and wife with him to the Congo. The families adaptation or lack thereof to native life is powerfully told through the womens’ eyes.
Lurie, Allison.
Foreign Affairs. 1984.
Two American professors in London to do research, embark each on their own love affairs, learning much about themselves in the process.
Martin, Valerie.
Italian Fever. 1999.
Lucy Stark has come to Florence to bury her employer. His mysterious demise quickly has her investigating the Italian countryside, accompanied by an ardent Italian lover.
Rinaldi, Nicholas.
The Jukebox Queen of Malta. 1999.
A Brooklyn mechanic finds himself in Malta during the siege of 1942. "Part Catch-22 and part Swept Away," the book includes scenes of pathos as well as absurdity.
Siddons, Anne Rivers.
Hill Towns. 1993.
Depicts the reassessment of a marriage as an American couple travels from the hill towns of North Carolina to the hill towns of Italy.
Other classic books about Americans abroad:
Bowles, Paul. The Sheltering Sky.
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. Tender is the Night.
Greene, Graham. The Quiet American.
Hemingway, Ernest. The Sun Also Rises.
James, Henry. The Portrait of a Lady.
All titles are shelved under the author's last name.
Compiled by Nancy Wagner, Wilmette Public Library, March 2000.
