Why Jenna Lo Bianco’s second book was actually her first

27 May 2024

Love & Rome may be my second book to publish, but it was the first I ever wrote. And, strangely enough, when I started writing the manuscript I never had intention to write a book or pursue a career in writing at all. Believe me.

I was in Mykonos and it was a scorching 40+ degree day. The kind of suffocating swallowing heat that takes your breath away. We had arrived without luggage on account of some tight flight connections and, unable to venture outside, I decided to get some work done on an educational publishing project I was writing at the time.

Stretched out on the bed with my laptop and notes, I wasn’t really able to concentrate on my work. It wasn’t what my attention was pressing me to think about. Instead, quite inexplicably, an image come to my mind; a young woman with cropped wavy hair, carrying an easel and brown leather satchel, descending a flight of well-worn marble stairs down a darkened corridor. I let this image just take over and the ‘woman’ reached out and pushed open the heavy double wooden doors at the landing. A blinding white light enveloped her, casting her form to a mere silhouette. She stepped out into the brightness of day onto cobblestones and turned right. And out of sight.

That was the moment I met Stella Chiaro, the main character in Love & Rome. I had no idea what my imagination had created, but something pressed upon my heart to write it down. So there, in Mykonos on that wild blisteringly hot day, I started writing Love & Rome.

That was in 2013. I played with what I had affectionately called ‘Rome Story’ for many years, having to juggle teaching full-time, studying for my PhD and eventually becoming a mother in 2018. It was the latter, becoming a mother and having to come to terms with the sudden shift in my professional and personal identities, that forced me to finish ‘Rome Story’. I could no longer get to Rome on a whim when tickets were cheap and my school holidays would permit. I felt tethered and ‘stuck’, but full of love for my baby son. I decided that if I couldn’t get to Rome, I would bring Rome to me.

And so, over 6 months while my baby son napped, I finished the book. This is why I have dedicated the book to him. His birth taught me how much Rome means to me, how it nourishes and completes me. And while I will spare you the details of years of rejections, re-working, re-developing, countless edits and revisions, know that while Love & Rome isn’t autobiographical, it was my daily escape to Roma. It helped me heal and accept the newest version of me. Life gives us many opportunities to be re-born, and Love & Rome was mine.

Moving from Melbourne to Rome was meant to fix Stella Chiaro’s life – and it did, for a while. But destiny has other plans.

With a one-way ticket home, artist Stella is running out of time and money. She is desperate to find stable work in the art world to keep afloat, or she will have to leave her beloved Eternal City behind. The last thing she needs right now is distractions . . .

The arrival of the full moon brings both the sweet owner of the new local bar and a handsome new flatmate. The promise of a new job and new love suddenly beckon Stella, but she quickly finds herself repeating patterns she once vowed not to.

In a journey stretching to enchanting Florence and across the ancient cobblestones of Rome, Stella must free herself from the mess she’s in. But is it too late? Will it be arrivederci to ‘Rome Sweet Home’?

PRAISE FOR LOVE & ROME

‘Love & Rome is such an enjoyable, timeless read and I found myself transported to Rome where I could almost smell the food on the street. This is a wonderful romantic novel about healing and reinvention and the passionate search for a true soulful love. Coloured beautifully by a world of food and art this is the perfect holiday read, especially if you love all things Italian. If you can’t manage a romantic trip to Rome right now then this novel is the next best thing.’ PIA MIRANDA

Author Information

Jenna Lo Bianco is ‘The Italian Teacher’, a passionate Italianist, and also a writer, educator, PhD Candidate and advocate for Italian language education in Australia. With nearly sixty publications to her name, Jenna is trusted to write about all things Italian. She is a Fellow of the International Specialised Skills Institute and Italian Australian Foundation, and has written and consulted in educational publishing for more than a decade.

Jenna may appear to live in Melbourne, but her heart and soul are Rome’s most permanent residents. Her debut novel The Italian Marriage was published in 2024.

Follow Jenna on Instagram @the.italian.teacher