Innocence (Fitzgerald novel)

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Innocence
Innocence, 1st edn cover 1986.png
First edition cover
Author Penelope Fitzgerald
Country United Kingdom
Language English
Published1986 [1]
Publisher Collins [1]
Media typePrint
Pages224 [1]

Innocence is a 1986 novel by the British author Penelope Fitzgerald. Set in Italy, it is a comedy of manners concerning the marriage of the young daughter of an old but impoverished aristocratic family, and a young neurologist who has tried to cut himself off from emotion. "Innocence" is the first of a group of four historical novels written by Fitzgerald at the end of her career. It was her first book to be published in the USA.

Contents

Background

Fitzgerald had visited Italy frequently during the years 194983, including her belated honeymoon with Desmond (who had partly spent World War II in Italy), and a solo trip in 1976 as Desmond was dying, at his insistence. The Fitzgeralds had published Italian fiction in World Review in the 1950s. Fitzgerald was familiar with the Communist Cesare Pavese. [Note 1]

Reception

The result is as satisfying as it is entertaining.

John Gross, New York Times [2]

Notes

  1. The count's nephew, named Cesare, is directly compared with Pavese (chapter 4).

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References

  1. 1 2 3 "British Library Item details". primocat.bl.uk. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  2. Gross, John (28 April 1987). "Books of the Times: Innocence". New York Times: C17.

Bibliography