The Expert, my new novel-in-progress
My new novel tells a story of experimentation, love, and scandal, based on the lives of real psychologists — John Watson and his assistant Rosalie Rayner — in 1920s Baltimore. I’ve been eagerly… Read More
Now available
Praise for The Detour: “A gently haunting work of subtle and surprising wisdom.” Carol Haggas, Booklist “A marvelous adventure across landscapes both inner and outer, The Detour is a moving study in art and… Read More
Review: Dark humor, “beautifully layered”
Jessica Brockmole of Historical Novels Review just posted this about The Detour: Romano-Lax has taken a snippet from history, Hitler’s controversial pre-war acquisition of The Discus Thrower, and cast it in a classic… Read More
Third Reich Beefcake
Shy Ernst Vogler didn’t even want to take off his shirt to swim. He wouldn’t have fared well with these body-proud German lads. I gave a brief art history talk in Homer, Alaska… Read More
Australia Reviews In
The Detour was recently released in an Australia edition by Murdoch Books with the title The Art Lover, and this week, Southern Hemisphere reviewers had this to say: Courier Mail, Brisbane– “VERDICT: Elegant,… Read More
Stuck Writers, Second Novels…
When a recent interviewer asked me if it’s really true that as a principle, seconds novel are tough, I hesitated. Yes, undeniably tough. But no, this new novel, The Detour, wasn’t exactly… Read More
The Art Lover (Australia edition)
It’s official: in April, Murdoch Books, Pier Nine imprint will be bringing out The Detour (retitled The Art Lover in Australia). I love the cover, and I look forward to seeing how this… Read More
Nazi art and physical imperfection: three quick questions about The Detour
The Nazis spent all of World War II plundering art. Why set this story so early, before their art acquisition project had gained momentum, and before the war? During the war, the Third… Read More
Dear Reader,
Five years ago, when my first novel came out, a barrier existed between author and reader. Certainly, I received emails—wonderful emails—but I took a while to answer them, I neglected a few, and… Read More
Leonardo as Ernst, Paul as Pablo: Hollywood dreaming
OK, twist my arm. Make me consider which actors I wish would play my fictional characters. Marshal Zeringue of the website “My Book, the Movie” asked me to do just that and it took me,… Read More
Booklist Review: “A Metaphor for Life…”
Set against the background of impending war and Nazi reprisals, Romano-Lax’s delicately atmospheric journey of discovery is, of course, a metaphor for life, with all its unaccountable and uncontrollable diversions and demands. A… Read More
In Time for Valentine’s Day: A love letter to E.M. Forster and literary Italy
The other day I picked up a century-old novel about which I’d completely forgotten and it struck me that it contained a theme about which many authors – myself included— have written: the… Read More
A new review for The Detour from Library Journal
In 1938, Ernst Vogler is sent to Italy by the German government to bring back for Hitler a famous ancient statue, Myron’s The Discus Thrower. Vogler is a sad case. Afraid to speak… Read More
A Family Trip to Italy, with Tips
In my second novel, The Detour, young German art lover Ernst Vogler is unsatisfied with knowing his favorite classical statue, The Discus Thrower, only through photographs. Only by seeing this ancient work of… Read More
Art, Power, and Responsibility: Harlan — a great documentary elevated by empathy and nuance
Harlan: In the Shadow of Jew Suss, a documentary by Felix Moeller, available now on Netflix. You’re a top German director with an adorable young starlet of a wife (think Reese Witherspoon with… Read More
The Discus Thrower: a forgotten symbol from my own family’s German-American past
The original idea for my second novel, The Detour, was sparked by seeing a photograph of the ancient Greco-Roman Discus Thrower statue, and a footnote explaining that Hitler was obsessed with the work and… Read More
