Innocence (Fitzgerald novel)

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.

Innocence
First edition cover
AuthorPenelope Fitzgerald
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Published1986[1]
PublisherCollins[1]
Media typePrint
Pages224[1]

Background

Fitzgerald had visited Italy frequently during the years 1949–83, 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).

References
  1. "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
  • Lee, Hermione (2013). Penelope Fitzgerald: A Life. London: Chatto & Windus. ISBN 9780701184957.
  • Wolfe, Peter (2004). Understanding Penelope Fitzgerald. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press. ISBN 1-57003-561-X.
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