Melania Gaia Mazzucco talks about one of her novels set in seventeenth-century Trastevere, quite a different place than what we see today. Although she has traveled the world, Mazzucco comes from generations of romani di Roma (Romans from Rome).

Melania talks about her relationship with her father when he was still alive. He didn't say much, but unbeknownst to her, tried to get a story of hers published. She talks about one her favorite parts of Rome: Isola Tiberina (Tiber Island), the only river island in the part of the Tiber that runs through Rome.

Melania Mazzucco grew up in a part of Rome on the outskirts, not the part people usually associate with the beautiful city. The white Fiat 500 her father bought for the family became an important part of her life.