An Italian family drama, set in the 1980s Maremma, which is the southwest corner of Tuscany. Until the 20th century, the Maremma was a malaria-infested swamp. The Garden of Monsters begins after the swamp has been drained, Italy is recovering from the devastation of WWII, and money and investment is starting to flow into the region. The Biagini family are local ranchers, and the head of the family, Sauro, goes into business with the wealthy Roman politician Filippo Sanfilippi. Together they create rustic retreats where wealthy Romans can come to ride horses, enjoy the beach, eat high quality local food cooked by Sauro's wife, and drink a lot of local wine.

The book blurb describes this as a "war between families," but I'd say it was more a novel about two families who were frenemies, with the lower class famiglia Biagini usually getting the short end from the upper class famiglia Sanfilippi. If there is a main character, it's Sauro's teenage daughter Annamaria--intelligent, observant, anxious and so naïve. Filippo has a daughter the same age--thin, blonde ballerina Lisa. There is a cast of other family members, some with sizeable story tangents. But of the other characters, none is more important than Niki de Saint Phalle, a French-American artist who is creating a garden of massive sculptures nearby. This is the "Garden of Monsters" in the title, named thusly because the locals saw this as a folly and didn't recognize as having value. Annamaria visits this garden while it's under construction, and gets to know the artist, and these encounters spur her self-confidence and growth.

The Garden of Monsters has been described as a bildungsroman, and I agree it would be if only the novel were tighter and focused on Annamaria. However, it wandered off on tangents about several other characters, so maybe I'd call it a bildungsroman with tangents about adultery, discovering sexuality, disappointing sons, bribing politicians, anxious parents, historical background, and so on. ( )