Beautiful Ruins

I'd asked for recommendations for books set in Italy from Renee's Reading Club on Facebook, trying to get (even more) excited about my upcoming trip to Italy. I really wanted books set in the locales that I'll be visiting but got very few of those. Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter was recommended by a couple of people. A few others commented that they weren't crazy about the book.

I'll add myself to the list of those who weren't crazy about the book. I really did enjoy some of the descriptions of the Italian locations. Beyond that, I didn't enjoy the book. Not to mention that the Italy scenes were set in an area near Cinque Terra that I don't have the fondest memories of and probably will not return to.

None of the characters were likable, not that that determines whether or not I'll like a book. This was part war story, part family dysfunction and a huge part Hollywood melodrama. The latter is totally not my thing. I'm also confused as to why they'd use real people (Liz Taylor and Richard Burton) for a story like this. Why couldn't the stars have been as fictional as the rest of the story?

Does anyone have any better suggestions for novels set in Puglia or Sicily? Or even Rome?