(Fiction, 200 pp. Italian, 1962, English translations, 1965, 2007, 2011)
The classic novel, adapted into an award-winning film by Vittorio De Sica, chronicles the relationships between the young middle-class narrator and the children of a wealthy, assimilated family in the provincial city of Ferrara. The events take place on the eve of WWII, against the background of the anti-semitic legislation and policies of the Italian fascist state.
Review by Adam Kirsch, Tablet, January 4, 2012
Essay by John Champagne: “Bassani’s The Garden of the Finzi-Continis and Italian “Queers”.” CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture 12.1 (2010)
Review by Simon Mawer, The Independent, May 12, 2012
Obituary by Jonathan Keates, The Guardian, April 13, 2000
