Not every love story has a happy ending and it's only fair to warn you from the outset that this one very decidedly does not. But if you're looking for a tale of unrequited young love, you won't find a more evocative novel than The Garden of the Finzi-Contini. Set in the Italian city of Ferrara on the eve of World War II, this modern classic tells the story, not only of a young man's hopeless infatuation with the enchanting daughter of a wealthy Jewish family, but of the way that the beautiful promises of the world too often slip from one's grasp. This book is a heartbreaker, but a lovely one.
