The Garden of the Finzi-Continis

Arriving that Saturday, a group of five people wait outside the estate’s gate. Bruno Lattes and his tennis partner Adriana Trentini, whose father is the chief engineer of the province, wait with Giampiero Malnate, Carlotta Sani, and Tonino Collevatti. Although the narrator struggles to recognize everyone, he shares “the inevitable glance of Jewish complicity” with Bruno (51). However, Adriana is the one who impulsively tells the narrator about the tennis tournament finals where the despised Gino Cariani and the spineless Marchese Barbacinti dismissed the match to prevent Bruno from winning with Adriana. She centers her outrage on the unfairness of stopping the game once it looked like the pair might win. When the group is interrupted by Perotti allowing them in, they discover the dog, Jor, waiting inside the walls. The estate is so vast that Perotti instructs them to bike further into the estate to discover the courts.

The weather is lovely, so this time in the garden is like an extension of summertime. The tennis-playing group expands, and the narrator is at every gathering. Alberto and Micòl welcome every guest no matter when they show up, but when it comes to the status of the courts, they are mocking and self-deprecating. Micòl introduces her favorite drink and relays its origin story with complete seriousness. She tells stories about the family’s extensive travels over snacks brought out by Perotti on a tray. Micòl consistently grabs the non-kosher ham. She guides the conversation with sophistication and ease. As they eat and converse, Perotti’s family can be spotted from a distance working on the estate. Micòl ends her stories with, “et cetera, et cetera” (60).

When the narrator goes into the garden, he sees Signora Regina waving them further down the path to rejoin her grandchildren at the tennis court. She prevents the narrator from getting too close to her grandchildren. When Professor Ermanno and Signora Olga appear, they wear black and insist that they not disturb the guests. When Micòl introduces the guests, she describes the narrator and Bruno Lattes as the intellectuals. When Adriana and Bruno arrange a rematch to make up for the canceled tennis finals, Professor Ermanno and Signora Olga appear again. Micòl translates some of the Spanish and slang terms that the family uses, letting the narrator understand what is happening within the family. Professor Ermanno also goes out of his way to spend time with the narrator. The Professor asks politely after the narrator’s family and addresses the narrator using informal pronouns. The narrator pushes back at the Professor’s attempt at familiarity, but that’s how the Professor continues to address him. The Professor mentions unpublished letters of the famous writer Carducci that would make an excellent thesis project for someone studying literature. However, the narrator must decline, as he is already locked into his current subject. Regardless, the two look forward to graduation in June.

Micòl gives the narrator a tour of the garden with assurances from Alberto that he’ll perform his famous loud whistle when it’s time to return. It is the first of many walks of theirs, and at times they ride their bikes. The narrator is immediately comfortable with her, resting one of his hands on her handlebars. She educates him about the ground, the views, and especially the trees. Her passion steers into whimsy as she teaches him to see the trees as bearded old men. He notes that “her admiration bordered on reverence” (71). Micòl’s imagination turns the largest tree in the garden into a celebrity whose mysterious planter changes as she tells the story. She addresses the fruit trees like the other working members of the household.

Their trips change into pilgrimages with Jor. Throughout their conversations, they have lots of disagreements. When Micòl protests that she and Alberto are jealous of the narrator, he heckles back. Micòl insists that although she studies at home now, they always wanted to attend the school. It is her mother’s fear of germs that keeps Micòl at home. She admits that she invited him into the garden solely because she had a crush on him, which shocks the narrator. Furthermore, she reveals that the family’s return to the larger synagogue comes from a feeling of camaraderie with the rest of the Ferrarese Jews.

It starts to rain, so finding themselves back at the barn, they discover the old, luxurious carriage. She invites him inside, and it is just as the narrator could have imagined, although he has never been inside before. They disagree over whether it has been ruined with age. Even when they are physically close together, they argue. Micòl prefers the canoe to this carriage that Perotti works so hard to preserve. She cautions the narrator that even objects die.