Folio Archives 356: The Garden of the Finzi-Continis by Giorgio Bassani 2014

The Garden of the Finzi-Continis by Giorgio Bassani 2014

Set during the late 1930s in the small city of Ferrara in northeast Italy, the story follows the lives of two Jewish families, one wealthy (the Finzi-Continis) with a large walled garden and tennis court (which features repeatedly in the book), and the other middle-class. It is a son of the latter family and his interactions with the daughter of the former, that carries the story.

It is a gentle, relatively slow moving but insightful story of how the lives of these two families intertwine and affect each other as the anti-semitic prejudices build in the lead-up to World War Two. Tennis parties, cycling tours, frustrated love and the hierarchal seating in the synagogue are amongst the many varied scenarios described. As the persecution worsens, the garden becomes a haven for persecuted Jews.

The book was made into an award winning film in 1971 and is the semi-autobiographical life of the author.

The 272 page book is introduced by Simon Mawer and was translated from the Italian by Jamie McKendrick. There is a colour frontispiece and 7 colour illustrations by Laura Carlin. It is bound in dark green paper printed with a wrap-around cream, black and white picture. There are pale green endpapers and the dark green slipcase measures 24.6x16.9cm.

















































An index of the other illustrated reviews in the "Folio Archives" series can be viewed here.

Thanks for your usual excellent review material and photographs. I have to admit as much as I wanted to like this book and as much as I thought I probably would, it was hugely disappointing to me and has long topped my list of one of the few Folios I actually regret buying. Honestly, if it didn’t take up so little space in my library, I probably would’ve gotten rid of it long before now. I was so fascinated by the artwork on the Folio website and so looking forward to examining it in person, but I have to say it did not wear well with me, and as I read the book, I grew to dislike the art more and more rather unexpectedly.

This is a book I doubt I would have come across but for the FS - I'm grateful to them, because it is a gem. Thank you for the excellent (as usual) review, Warwick.

>2 UK_History_Fan:

Edited to say I'm sorry you didn't like it, Sean, and to explain that I thought it caught time and place as seen through adolescent eyes quite beautifully. I've been to most of the northern Italian cities, some many times, but not yet Ferrara, which I'm hoping to rectify this coming year, partly with this book in mind.

I thought this was a wonderful read and an excellent FS production

Heartbreaking film, I'm sure the book is even more poignant! Thank you for sharing.

Thanks - I always love Laura Carlin's illustrations, and somehow missed this book. Fortunately there is always Ebay, and a copy is on its way.

Thanks for sharing Warwick, I passed this up for $10 pre-pandemic and regret it hugely