The Italian Lover

Robert Hellenga
Little, Brown and Company (2007)
ISBN 9780316117630
Reviewed by Irene Watson for Reader Views (8/07)


Hellenga’s setting in “The Sixteen Pleasures” (1995) brings back protagonist Margot Harrington into his latest book, “The Italian Lover,” with romantic intrigue and comedy.

At the center of the story is Margot, an American living in Florence, whose career encompasses restoring books.  She is also an author of a memoir about her discovery of Florence and her love affair. It is the fall of 1990, and she is waiting for the arrival of a film producer interested in generating her story into film.

During her wait, Margot meets and falls in love with Woody, an American teaching literature at the American Academy.  As a sideline Woody plays guitar at the Bebop Club.  Together they attempt to write the script that would impress the producer.

Onto the scene comes Esther Kein, a producer, who once worked with her estranged husband producing films, Michael Gardiner, a victim of cancer, and Miranda Clark, an aspiring and distressed actress vying for the roll of Margot.  As each character and subplot emerges, so does the drama of everyday life of the characters.

Hellenga sets the scenes dramatically and pulls the reader into the panorama of Italian life.  I found the Italian phrases distracting because I didn’t know what they meant, and spent time guessing, often losing the intended plot.  At times I also felt the storyline was slow and the characters under-developed.

With all that said, I did enjoy “The Italian Lover” from the perspective of Italian culture.  It brought old traditions into the modern intricacy and sophistication, realizing the differences between Italy and United States.  Margot, herself, experiences of home, work, and love were not the same as she knew them in America, and conflicted in her Italian life.  A good read and a book that makes you think of your own cultural differences.

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