Innocence

Penelope Fitzgerald's career as a novelist -- she also was a noted biographer and essayist -- divided into two phases: first, novels set in England and relating in some way to her own life (one of which, "Offshore", won the Booker Prize); and second, novels that were more imaginary and with historical settings, usually foreign to England. INNOCENCE (1986) was the first of her novels from this second phase. It is an offbeat comedy. Set in Italy in the mid-1950s, it revolves around the courtship and early years of marriage between Chiara Ridolfi, a young Italian countess from Florence whose family has lost much of its wealth, and Salvatore Rossi, a doctor from a backwater village in southern Italy. Chiara is a little on the flighty side, and Salvatore is overly sensitive about his plebian background, astoundingly self-centered, and often rude. Other principal characters (and they all are "characters" as well) are Chiara's father Giancarlo, her aunt Maddalena, her cousin Cesare (who maintains the family farm and vineyards), and her close friend from the convent school Holy Innocents in England she attended, Lavinia ("Barney") Gore-Barnes. The six of them find themselves in, or get themselves into, all kinds of odd situations which would embarrass, even mortify, most of us, but for them (usually) they prove to be so much water off a duck's back. The novel's genre, I suppose, is "social comedy." But INNOCENCE is not really satiric, nor for the most part is it "laugh-out-loud." It pokes fun at its characters but more, to borrow a phrase, at "the human comedy." The humor is on the droll side, although some of the goings on approach the madcap and zany. INNOCENCE is literate, entertaining, and often witty. It is not much more, although I don't sense that Fitzgerald aspired for it to be much more. At the conclusion of the novel, after tragedy has been averted seemingly through happenstance, Salvatore Rossi exclaims, "What's to become of us? We can't go on like this." Cesare, the taciturn one, responds: "Yes, we can go on like this. We can go on exactly like this for the rest of our lives."

The book is noteworthy for its fine writing and its elegant Italian setting. Fitzgerald was a genius of a writer. Brother and sister Giancarlo Ridolfi and Maddalena are reunited in old age since their spouses, English and American, prefer not to live in Florence. Giancarlo's daughter Chiara is to marry Dr. Rossi. Chiara wants a country wedding at Valsassina. The Count seeks out his nephew, Cesare, who lives on the estate. Another family holding, the Villa Ricordanza, had been requisitioned three times during the war. Chiara was cooped up there in her childhood. Chiara calls Maddalena Aunt Mad. Salvatore Rossi is a physician, a neurologist. Chiara Ridolfi is accused by an English school friend of being weedy. Her friend from the convent, Barney, visits Chiara. Giancarlo regrets that Maddalena is not present during the visit. Barney worries about the supply of bath water in Florence. Giancarlo claims he isn't used to the straightforwardness of Barney. Chiara doesn't like having Salvatore Rossi inspected by her. The incidents of the story roll on from one interesting locution (and location) and another and another. What a wonderful title, INNOCENCE, is for the book that Penelope Fritzgerald gives us. The author's writing shows deep cultural acquisitions employed in a number of remarkable ways. (There is some resemblance here to the works of E.M. Forster.) The result is sunshine, happiness, joy. The too often used adjective sparkling really does describe the quality encountered in the novel. The clash of Italian and English customs is brilliant, bright, amusing. I have read four other books by this author and would place this one at the top of the list in terms of over-all excellence and reader interest.

"Innocence" is a beautiful novel, clever and subtle. The picture of an Italian family in mid-1950's Tuscany is brought to life with astonishing economy and charm. Everything necessary to understand and empathize with the characters is there on the page. Penelope Fitzgerald was truly an artist.

"Innocence" may be Penelope Fitzgerald's most conventional novel. It is the first of those (7) that I've read that I didn't finish in a day. As usual, it is character-driven with a rich assortment of characters, a precisely limned milieu (Tuscany in the mid-50s), and several desultory plots filled with misunderstandings. The focus of this rather Forsterian novel is not on the overconfident, tall young Englishwoman running amok in Italy. I'm not sure there is a focus. What clicks between the romantic leads, Chiara, an Italian countess just back from an English convent school and Salvatore, a hypersensitive-to-perceived slights doctor of Southern peasant origins, remains mysterious. The (not particularly prosperous) noble family throws up no objections, though an aunt's attempt to help the newlyweds nearly has fatal consequences. The doctor's father was an admirer of Gramsci and brought his son, then aged ten, to visit the dying Gramsci (for me the book's most memorable scene).

Penelope Fitzgerald is amazing! Each of her books is unique, and I simply can't decide which I like best. INNOCENCE is splendid. And it is so Italian!