CONTENTS
1) The Non- Camillo Books (Introduction)
4) Drawing Room Farces
- Introduction
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- "Husband", ch. 1
- "Husband", ch. 2
- "Husband", ch. 9
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- "Clotilda", ch. 1
- "Clotilda", ch. 4
- "Clotilda", ch. 10
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* A Husband in Boarding School *
* Duncan and Clotilda *
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| Donna Leo Madellis towers over her idle rich clan in Il marito en collegio. | Guareschi's original design for the cover of Il destino si chiama Clotilda. |
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| Click here to skip my erudite, entertaining introduction and scroll down to the excerpts. |
No less an Italian literary light than Umberto Eco claims to prefer them to the Don Camillo stories. Now, most fans would respectfully disagree on that point, but that doesn't mean that they won't find something to enjoy in Giovannino Guareschi's two farces in English translation, Duncan and Clotilda and A Husband in Boarding School (UK title, School for Husbands).
The two novels were written in the early 1940's (1941-2 for Clotilda and 1942-3 for Husband) and were the second and third of a trio of farces by GG dating from this period (the first, an autobiographical one called Il scoperto di Milano, I know nothing about). Both were published in serial form first, and then as books. And both are set in a generically European, early-20th Century world of silly aristocrats, clever con artists, cases of mistaken identity, fortunes precariously held, and-- of course!-- high-spirited girls in love with resourceful gentlemen who are (bless them!) futilely determined not to be brought to heel.
I suppose these early efforts can be seen as the work of an author still finding his voice. But some of the hallmarks of the mature Guareschi are already evident at this stage: in particular, in the way that he manages to gently skewer his characters without denying them their happy endings, GG demonstrates both that he is aware of the foibles of humanity and that he is nevertheless no misanthrope.
The books did well enough in their day, but we in the English-speaking world would not know of them but for the author's later success. In the late 1960's, right before GG's death and on the heels of his Don Camillo fame, both were finally translated. Husband was published first (in 1967), with Clotilda following a year later.
Since these chapters (I've selected 3 from each book) aren't self-contained vignettes like those in the family books, it's best to read them in order. I've also given little plot summaries below, to provide some context.
| A Husband in Boarding School (click on a flower to read a chapter, or use the contents bar at left) |
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 chapter 1 |
chapter 2 |
chapter 9 |
| Eccentric Dom Casimiro Wonder has issued his favorite niece an ultimatum: settle down immediately with a husband, or be disinherited. Since the support of a sizable family of freeloaders (headed by an iron-willed matriarch) is dependent on that inheritance, the hunt is soon on for a suitable spouse. Carlotta, though not keen to marry, finally locates one in lovestruck woodcutter Camillo, who meets the main two requirements (male and willing) but is rather deficient in social standing; so, after a quicky, secret wedding, the bemused groom is packed off to finishing school to become worthy of being seen with his new family. And then, wouldn't you know it, out of nowhere a really suitable suitor appears at the mansion, in the form of suave Count Meditatio Filet. Is Filet too good to be true? If not, can the family string him along until they've annulled Carlotta's still- unconsummated first marriage? Will Dom Casimiro allow it? And what of devoted Camillo, laboring in school to earn his bride: will he try to take control of his own fate? | ||
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| Duncan and Clotilda (click on a flower to read a chapter, or use the contents bar at left) |
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chapter 1 |
chapter 4 |
chapter 10 |
| Spoiled socialite Clotilda Troll has developed a Thing for Duncan Fitzmorris, a fellow jet-setter with the nerve not to acknowledge her existence! The proverbial woman scorned, she tricks Duncan (and a pair of compatriots, lest he think this is all about him) into boarding her yacht. The plan is simply to kidnap them, but these things never go according to plan, and the shanghaied gentlemen soon find themselves entangled in a series of adventures landing them in America. [At which point in the action Guareschi offers a lengthy and apparently digressive chapter set in Argentina! But don't let it throw you...] Now, if only Duncan could wire home for money... but, alas, his fortune is hostage to a clause in his late mother's will that he cannot bring himself to fulfill. Will he capitulate, or will Duncan and co. discover that they can survive on their wits alone? Will Clotilda, who has in the meantime learned of their fate, be able to persuade them to accept help from her? And, more importantly, will she finally be able to snare her man, who can hardly pretend now that he's unaware of her existence? | ||
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