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The Rome Plague Diaries

Available February 2021

On the first morning of Italy's Covid-19 lockdown, Matthew Kneale was sitting in a Rome coffee bar when he felt an overwhelming need to connect with old friends and acquaintances. He began writing an email, describing where he was, what was happening, what it felt like, and sent it to everyone he could think of. This became the first of many daily reports, as he tried to comprehend a time when Italians' lives were suddenly changed and the country struggled against Europe's first coronavirus epidemic - a moment that was strange, profoundly troubling but also fascinating.

Having lived in Rome for eighteen years, Matthew has grown to know the capital and its citizens well, and his insightful and humorous account connects everything he has learned about the city with these extraordinary months, revealing the Romans through the prism of the coronavirus.

     
 
 
matthew kneale in Rome....

Matthew Kneale Official website

Born in London, Matthew Kneale has lived in Rome for almost two decades and is proud to consider himself an honorary Roman. His publications include...

Whore Banquets (novel) 1987, republished as Mr Foreigner 2002. Inside Rose's Kingdom (novel) 1989. Sweet Thames (novel,) 1993. English Passengers (novel) 2000. Small Crimes in an Age of Abundance (short stories) 2005. When we were Romans(novel) 2007. An Atheist's History of Belief, Understanding our Greatest Invention (non-fiction history) 2013. Rome: A History in Seven Sackings (non-fiction history) 2017. Pilgrims (novel) 2020.

Kneale's next publication, The Rome Plague Diaries, Lockdown Life in the Eternal City will be published in February 2021

update november 13 2020

Copyright Matthew Kneale 2013
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