The Sixteen Pleasures

The Sixteen Pleasures – Robert Hellenga

4 stars

“What is amazing is how intensely you care about this woman” – The New Yorker

That quote appears on the back cover of my battered paperback copy of The Sixteen Pleasures. It’s true. I did come to care a great deal about Margot Harrington and her 1966 sojourn of self-discovery in flood stricken Florence. However, the truly amazing thing is how accurately Robert Hellenga managed to capture the inner voice and personality of a young woman.

Margot is 29 and dissatisfied with her life. Her mother’s death interrupted the future she thought she would have and seems to have set her adrift. In the aftermath of the flood, she takes her skills as a book conservator to Florence to help with show more the clean-up. She ends up in a convent, helping the sisters rescue their library. In the convent library, they find a Renaissance masterpiece of erotic verse with pictures. Margot restores the book, and helps the convent realize the profits form its sale.

Margot finds a book of erotica, but her story, as told by Hellenga, is not erotic. Oh yes, she does fall in love and has an affair, but it is not overly graphic. Mostly this story is played out through Margot’s inner reflections about her life and her relationships. Hellenga also gives us a peek into the thoughts of her lover, the likable, deceitful, Dottor Sandro Postiglione. My favorite character was the Mother Superior of the convent. I would have enjoyed more of her pithy, insightful comments. I also enjoyed the beautiful descriptions of the art and the details of the restorations. I would have liked a great deal more of that.

Margot may discover many things about her own sexuality in Florence, but she also spends much time reflecting on her relationships to other women. In the end, when she finally takes control of her own life, (and I wondered if she would ever get there) her loyalty to her sisters, both biological and metaphorical, is the overriding factor. It is so much a woman’s story. I’m looking forward to reading more of Hellenga’s writing to see what other amazing things he can do. show less

Set in Florence after the Arno flood of 1966, this is the story of Margot Harrington, 29-year-old American book conservator, who travels to Italy to volunteer in the restoration of books damaged in the flood. Margot has experienced a number of disappointments, and she hopes Florence will help set a positive course for her future. She has trouble finding a place to stay and is directed to a Carmelite convent. The nuns discover a rare Renaissance manuscript of sixteen erotic poems and drawings. The abbess asks Margot to get involved in selling the manuscript to raise funds to save the convent’s beloved library. Margot meets and falls in love with the married cousin of the abbess, Dottor Alessandro Postiglione, an art restorer. The show more storyline revolves around Margot’s journey of self-discovery.

There are many interwoven threads in this novel, which are addressed in lengthy detailed passages, such as techniques of book and art restoration, reflections on convent life, and the methods by which a canonical court decides whether to grant an annulment. At the same time, we follow Margot’s initial thoughts of joining a convent, then veering into a sexual relationship with Alessandro. We learn about her family’s history.

I enjoyed very much the manner in which Margot (eventually) resists being controlled by men who want to take advantage of her and get their hands on the manuscript. My favorite parts were the descriptions of life in the convent. I was less enamored of the sexual relationship with a much older man. Hellenga’s writing is elegant and witty. It is a novel of devotion to craft, passion, and the fortitude to change one’s life for the better. show less

Set in Florence after the Arno flood of 1966, this is the story of Margot Harrington, 29-year-old American book conservator, who travels to Italy to volunteer in the restoration of books damaged in the flood. Margot has experienced a number of disappointments, and she hopes Florence will help set a positive course for her future. She has trouble finding a place to stay and is directed to a Carmelite convent. The nuns discover a rare Renaissance manuscript of sixteen erotic poems and drawings. The abbess asks Margot to get involved in selling the manuscript to raise funds to save the convent’s beloved library. Margot meets and falls in love with the married cousin of the abbess, Dottor Alessandro Postiglione, an art restorer. The show more storyline revolves around Margot’s journey of self-discovery.

There are many interwoven threads in this novel, which are addressed in lengthy detailed passages, such as techniques of book and art restoration, reflections on convent life, and the methods by which a canonical court decides whether to grant an annulment. At the same time, we follow Margot’s initial thoughts of joining a convent, then veering into a sexual relationship with Alessandro. We learn about her family’s history.

I enjoyed very much the manner in which Margot (eventually) resists being controlled by men who want to take advantage of her and get their hands on the manuscript. My favorite parts were the descriptions of life in the convent. I was less enamored of the sexual relationship with a much older man. Hellenga’s writing is elegant and witty. It is a novel of devotion to craft, passion, and the fortitude to change one’s life for the better. show less

A well-written and engaging novel about an American woman, Margot, who goes to Italy to restore books after a flood. While she is working in a convent, a priceless, erotic Renaissance manuscript is discovered there. The book tells the story of Margot's conservation work and what happens to the manuscript, and also of her relationships with another conservator, with her family, and above all with herself. The blurb and reviews variously describe it as a thriller (it isn't), a mystery (it isn't), a romance (nope, not that either) and as funny (not a word I'd use) and erotic (you guessed it - another no - 0 out of 5 there, then). Anyone reading the opening this book in expectation of any or all of these elements will be disappointed. There show more are a number of scenes which could be categorised as earthy, vaguely humorous or mildly suspenseful, but this is as far as it goes.

What this book is, is an engaging exploration of Margot's personal growth, relationships and sexuality, and also of Italy, Roman Catholicism, literature and the importance of the preservation of literary heritage. Some of these themes are handled extremely well, while the resolution of others is a little less satisfying - but on whole these themes are tackled both deftly and sympathetically. show less

The descriptions of the background behind the forbidden book and of the techniques used in book restoration were fascinating. Otherwise, it wasn't a favorite - I found little of interest in the main character.

I hated this book! I have never read a travel book that made me want to stay so far away from another country. But I thought the protagonist was a twit and her taste in men appalling, her adventures low-key, her friends boring. Even the author's descriptions of the sensuous Italian lifestyle left me rolling my eyes. This book made illicit sex, great art, and the city of Florence sound like a total waste of time. One of my least favorite novels, ever.

Needing a change and some adventure in her life, Margot Harrington felt a calling to travel to Florence in 1966 to aid in the restoration of art and books after the famous flood. Many foreigners arrived in the city, but Margot was a little removed from the other “Mud Angels” because she was an experienced antique book restorer and she was very familiar with Florence, having lived there for several years as a child. Circumstance leads her to end up living at and working in the library of an impoverished abbey. The nuns entrusted to help her rescue the waterlogged books come across an old prayer book, but this was no ordinary prayer book. This book is bound together with another small book – the banned (thought lost) erotic poems of show more Aretino.

Margot first lovingly restores the book and then entrusted by the, surprisingly worldly, Abbess attempts to sell the volume to help the abbey. Her lover tries to undermine her sale to make a profit for himself. The Abbot, to whom the Abbess reports, forbids her to sell the banned book and life itself seems to be throwing out roadblocks every step of Margot’s way. Never one to be daunted, Margot persists with her quest leading to some interesting adventures.

From the title of the book and the “blurb” I read describing it I expected this book to be an “erotic” adventure. And, in a small way it was, but it was mostly about Margot finding herself. I enjoyed the story but as so often happens in works of historical fiction, I enjoyed the descriptions of Florence, the flood and the restorations even more, particularly the book restorations and the “peeling” of the water damaged frescoes. show less