The Sixteen Pleasures, Robert Hellenga's first published novel gave readers a taste for his intricate writing which weaves characterization, relationships, interesting details of time, place, skills, food, music and plot. In this way Robert Hellenga encapsulates all ones senses in the story.

We first meet Margot Harrington, in November of 1966. She is 29 and a book conservator and feeling stuck while the ticking hands of time leave her behind. The river Arno has flooded and she feels drawn to Florence, Italy a city she has lived in previously with her mother during a year abroad.

So she journeys to Italy and while living at Santa Caterina, a Carmelite convent an incredible opportunity of restoring a one of a kind book, an Aretino or Sixteen Pleasures.

This is not a simple story, it is complex interweaving so many different themes of relationships, happiness and place in the world, with details of convent life, and immersing one in the feel of life in Florence in the 1960's.

I so enjoy Hellenga's writing. Here is a short excerpt:

What could Mam have said that would have altered the course of our lives?
I think about this question a lot -- not all the time, but often enough--without coming any closer to an answer. All I know is that my life is filled with little pockets of silence. When I put a record on the turntable, for example, there a little interval-- between the time the needle touches down on the record and the time the music actually starts -- during which my heart refuses to beat. All I know is that between the rings of the telephone, between the touch of a button and the sound of the radio coming on between the dimming of the lights at the cinema and the start of the film, between the lifting of a baton and the opening bars of symphony, between the dropping of a stone and the plunk that comes back from the bottom of a well between the ringing of the doorbell and the barking of the dogs I sometimes catch myself, involuntarily listening for the sound of my mother's voice, still waiting for the tape to begin"

Such a rich luscious book, I find my self sorry that I only have a few Hellengas yet to read.

This is a book good for reading slowly, while lounging on vacation or maybe in a sickbed. Unfortunately, I’m not good at reading like that. So I enjoyed the rather meandering, episodic beginning but then, started to get a little bored towards the end. It was interesting overall; I just felt like it could’ve been edited down some and been better for it.

Hellenga's novel, "The Sixteen Pleasures", follows a young American's life as a budding X-pat, living in Europe. Margot was introduced to european travel by her deceased mother who would chaperone groups of study abroad students. The mother also introduced her to the world of art appreciation which formed the basis for her career as a book restoration authority. The book develops as Margot is returning to Italy to relive those wonderful days. Predictably there are liaisons, Catholic intrigue, and wonderful descriptions of art restoration.

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 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.

Disfrute mucho el libro. Entre con 0 expectativas. Me sentí muy identificada con la protagonista. Todo lo que le pasa con los hombres, miedo, placer, nostalgia. Una de mis frases favoritas es “non vale il pene” me parece simplemente fantástica. Me encanto el hecho de que se desarrolle en Florencia, probablemente mi ciudad favorita (ny vos también) porque podía reconocer los lugares y crear una mejor imagen mental. También me encanto el hecho de trata mucho el arte, otras de mis pasiones. Siento que fue el libro perfecto para esta malena 25/7/22. Siento q yo y margot somos muy parecidas, el amor por el arte, por los hombres, por la ciudad de firenze y la nostalgia como emoción permanente. En algunas partes se me hizo algo aburrido por ejemplo en la venta del libro o en el convento. Pero también quiero destacar lo gracioso q es el libro, las partes sexuales sobre todo, muy inteligentemente escrito. En el final yo creo q Margot después de perderse, logró encontrarse. Where she wanted to be

Set in Florence after the 1966 flood, this novel tells the story of Margot, a book curator, who lends a hand in restoring flood-damaged books. Because there is a shortage of places to stay, she rooms at a convent, which possesses the only copy of a 16th century erotic book bound inside another book. She is asked to find a buyer on behalf of the convent. The novel details book restoration, and Margot's search for a buyer, but primarily the book is about Margot's quest to find herself and her place in the world. I liked Margot's sassiness -- when she was narrating. But I found the author's sudden switch to omniscient point of view jolting.

I know this isn't a function of the actual book, but the Universe keeps dropping the 1966 flooding of the Arno river into my lap over and over again. This is the second book that has made its way unsought to me in the last year; yet another piece in a long line of articles and off-handed comments I've stumbled upon.

Hellenga wrote this book as part of an Artists Fellowship made possible by the National Endowment for the Arts. His research and dedication to accuracy are evident, and I thoroughly enjoyed all the passages on conservation techniques and book binding, and I felt like Hellenga's time spent writing in Florence was well spent.

I liked it overall, certainly, but I wished I could have loved it. The main character, Margot, is all at once likable and confusing, as though her creator would've done better to write from a male perspective than a female one. The plot seemed natural and I enjoyed Hellenga's portrayal of the Florentine convent and the architecture, but the author sometimes lost himself in peripheral stories.

The cover describes _Sixteen Pleasures_ as being about Margot's discovery of an erotic Renaissance book of plates and sonnets but for most of the novel the erotic book holds lesser importance than, say, Margot's discovery of herself.

This is a story about an American woman who travels to Florence in 1967 to help save rare books and artworks after the flood. While living there in a convent she discovers a 16th century book of artistically rendered porn and faces a series of challenges. The writing was a bit inconsistent but I enjoyed the detailed descriptions of book conservation, Italian art, the Catholic religion, Florence after the flood, as well as Italian life, laws, and food.

I loved this book on so many levels! Italian geography, language and culture; ancient books; convent life and the power of women; the rarified world of high-value auctions; the romance; and most of all, the self-discovery of the protagonist. Highly recommend!

I didn't finish this because I read 150 pages and was struggling. Just very boring. I am trying to let myself not finish books, though, because life is too short!

I really liked this story. The book is set in Florence after the Arno flooded in the 60's. The main character is a librarian bored out of her mind who volunteers to help restore books. She has the adventure of a lifetime. Probably silly but I still loved it.

interesting fictionalized account of book restoration in G
Florence and in particular the finding of a destroyed lost book by Aretino of erotic sonnets illustrated with images that were intended as frescos.