Linda Lappin

I am a prize-winning novelist, poet, translator, and lifelong wanderer in search of stories rooted in place and memory.

Originally from Tennessee, I've spent much of my life in Rome, and the landscapes of Italy, France, and Greece have deeply shaped my writing. I love digging into the mysteries of old houses, ancient tombs, forgotten women artists, and the strange ways places speak to us. That fascination led me to write novels like *The Etruscan*, *Katherine's Wish*, *Signatures in Stone*, and *Loving Modigliani: The Afterlife of Jeanne Hébuterne*—which imagines what might happen if Modigliani's muse got a second chance at telling her story.

I'm drawn to the stories of  women on the edge of transformation—whether they're historical figures, artists, or fictional travelers—trying to make sense of the worlds they inhabit. I write across genres, weaving together history, myth, mystery, and the uncanny.

When I'm not writing fiction, I teach and explore the "spirit of place" through my creative writing guide, *The Soul of Place*, which won a Nautilus Award for creativity. I believe every place has a story to tell—and a soul waiting to be heard. 

Thanks for stopping by. You can read more about my books, my travels, and my inspirations right here on this site.

You can also follow me on substack https://lindalappin.substack.com 

In this award-winning literary gothic novel set in 1920s Italy, American photographer Harriet Sackett becomes entangled with a seductive nobleman who may be a ghost, a conman, or the product of her unraveling mind. Told through the lens of her cousins reading her diary, The Etruscan is a darkly mysterious tale of obsession, romance, and ancient secrets—"Gothic in the grand style... psychologically acute, emotionally subtle." Reminiscent of  John Fowles' The Magus

Genre: Mystery, Suspense, Romance, Historical, Gothic

 Available from INGRAM  AMAZON BN BOOKSHOP ORG IBOOKS LIBBY OVERDRIVE HOOPLA

FOR MORE RESOURCES, REVIEWS, VIDEOS, AUDIO, SEE My Book Page for The Etruscan 

PARIS 1920 Dying just 48 hours after her  husband, Jeanne Hebuterne—wife and muse of the celebrated painter Amedeo Modigliani and an artist in her own right — haunts their shared studio, watching as her legacy is erased. Decades later, a young art history student travels across Europe to rescue Jeanne's work from obscurity. A ghost story, love story, and a search for a missing masterpiece.

 Genre: Historical Mystery, Historical Fiction, Magical Realism

 UNIVERSAL PURCHASE LINK HERE

 FOR MORE RESOURCES, REVIEWS, VIDEOS, AUDIO, SEE My Book Page for Loving Modigliani

 "Scary & satisfying. Lappin's people are as dangerous and compelling as her Italy." Nina Auerbach, Our Vampires, Ourselves.

"An intelligent summer mystery. Much to savor here. " Library Journal

"The book bewitches." Mystery Scene Magazine

 An old villa, a garden of monstrous statues,  6 people victims of themselves and a sassy white cat -- these are the characters in Signatures in Stone.  In Fascist-era Italy, four travelers explore the eerie Monster Park of Bomarzo. When a murder occurs, mystery writer Daphne must solve it by cracking the park's dark secret and discover the source of its life-transforming power.

Genre: Mystery, Italian Mystery,  Art History Mystery. Occult Mystery

 Available from: INGRAM.   AMAZON.  BN. BOOKSHOP. ORG. HOOPLA  OVERDRIVE LIBBY

Universal Buy Link

 FOR MORE RESOURCES, REVIEWS, VIDEOS, AUDIO, SEE My Book Page for Signatures in Stone

ELECTRIFY YOUR WRITING WITH THE MYSTERIOUS POWER OF PLACE

Published by Travelers' Tales, 2015
isbn: 978-1609521035

"This is such a pleasure to read. Unlike most books with writing prompts, this one goes in depth with sensitizing you to ground yourself in awareness of where you are and why. Grazie, Linda, for this marvelous work." —Frances Mayes, author of Under the Tuscan Sun

"Insightful exercises help creative writers of all levels attune themselves to the power of place in order to churn out evocative prose that jumps off the page." National Geographic Intelligent Traveler

 
In this engaging creative writing workbook, Linda Lappin, novelist, poet, and travel writer, presents a series of insightful exercises to help writers of all genres -- (literary travel writing, memoir, poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction) discover imagery and inspiration in the places they love.

KATHERINE'S WISH

A Novel About the Life of Katherine Mansfield Gold Medal Winner, IPPY Awards. Honorable Mention Hoffer Awards

"Katherine’s Wish is first and foremost the compelling story of an artist fighting against time. Long after the last page, thoughts of her linger like an exotic scent, as if, anticipating other guests, she simply stepped from the room to display a vase of flowers or a platter’s mounded figs. --Joyce J. Townsend, Rain Taxi

"Linda Lappin has immersed herself in Mansfield's life, and merged from it with a story to to narrate on her own terms, a fiction charged with the enthusiasm of a good researcher, and carried through with a novelist's verve." Vincent O'Sullivan, editor The Letters of Katherine Mansfield Vol V

"The more Katherine Mansfield approaches death, the more she comes to life in Linda Lappin’s Katherine’s Wish. Lappin’s achievement is to succeed where medicine failed and, through her words, give Katherine Mansfield ongoing life. " Walter Cummins The Literary Review

Lappin's intensely imagined novel will satisfy readers unfamiliar with Mansfield as well as those already intrigued by her. Desmond O' Grady, South China Post