Critical Acclaim for Saving Rome
“Award-winning journalist Megan K. Williams…relocated to Italy.
The result: this engaging collection of fictional reports from the
cultural ferment of Rome… The tension attained... is both riveting
and very funny. Williams’s skill with dialogue, with the tempests it
alternatively contains and releases, is consummate.”
The Globe and Mail
“Williams’ journalistic roots come shining through in her ability
to shape a scene, layering elements to create a snapshot out of
every paragraph, the focus sharp and the colours bright. Saving Rome
is like a postcard from a friend with ‘Wish you were here’ scrawled
on the back. Save the airfare and read this book instead.”
The Quill & Quire
"As her characters wrestle with a variety of conundrums, Williams
treats them sympathetically but never simplistically. And she offers
a few belly laughs too -- most notably in 'Let the Games Begin,' an
oddly sexy, touching and wonderfully antic love story."
McGill News
"In one word, Saving Rome is wonderful... with the perfect balance
of interesting characters, punchy dialogue, page-turning drama,
comedy and impeccable pacing... When I finished reading the
collection, my heart ached the way it does every time it comes
face-to-face with beauty."
Herizons Magazine
"[A] tender-hearted and amusing first collection [with] fresh
angles on themes of displacement, relationship ennui and
disappointed expectations. Williams... has a clean, straightforward
style, which is exactly what you'd expect from an accomplished
journalist, and she reveals more intricate layers of plot at a
graceful pace.... This is a great book to have on hand for summer
travel, an assortment of prosaic delights with rich details about
Italian culture.
NOW Magazine
“The results are brilliant, as the various characters find
themselves in an array of amusing – and sometimes moving –
circumstances… At times witty and clever, sometimes slapstick and
silly, the prevailing sense of humour that underscores each chapter
is offset perfectly by a tempered sadness that is felt, but rarely
spoken…. The writing is crisp and clean and flows smoothly in a
graceful journalistic style. Saving Rome is filled with one woman’s
vision, warmth and charm.”
The Halifax Daily News
“Unlike many other novels or short stories compiled by vigorously
intelligent journalists - Megan is not boring. These stories… are
fiercely honest takes on Roman life and of the adjustments North
Americans must make to live there in relative peace… Megan has
captured the feelings of inadequacy and the longing for home that
many foreigners feel, without being insulting.”
Here Magazine
"The Rome-based Williams is a meticulous observer who mines import
from the details of daily life. Each of these stories is a small
gale in a passing cloud. Williams’ stories excavate all that’s
unsaid about living in Rome. She doesn’t so much save the city — an
obvious irony — as demonstrate the frailty of its protocols, giving
each of her characters believable flaws and desires. This is a
stunningly accomplished first collection.
The American Magazine, Rome
"Megan K Williams' first published fiction includes nine wonderful
short stories... The reader ends up pondering these imponderables
despite, or perhaps because of, Williams' truly fresh and funny
style that avoids the kitsch or cute characterizations common to
books in the foreigner abroad category... Saving Rome is well worth
the read if you have not picked it up already."
The Roman Forum Monthly
Saving Rome was named:
A McNally Robison Bookclub Recommendation
Toronto Public Library Recommended Ready
'The Girls in Bikinis' story performed at
Autori per Roma 2007 theatre festival.
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