“Although the pleasure of reading this book can hardly
compare with any of the sixteen, still, I’d put it high on the list of
pleasures one can have alone.”

“Elegantly moving…Everything about the narrator
and heroine of this novel is appealing right from the first paragraph.”

“Part mystery, part romance, part guidebook…A
lively first novel that communicates the heady peril, as well as the adventure,
of Florence after the flood.”

“Fascinating entertainment…with a sympathetic
heroine, a suspenseful plot, a cast of colorful characters and illuminating
meditations on life, art, and love.”

“Hellenga’s depth (and lightness) of
characterization and description lift it high above its genre. And what better
book than one about loving and loving books?”

“Graceful, assured prose, a wry but empathetic view of the human character, and an authoritative command of fascinating background detail are among the distinguishing features of this deeply satisfying first novel…It is remarkable that Hellenga, a recipient of a PEN fiction award for his short stories, can at this point in his career produce such a witty, sophisticated and wise novel, its erotic passages underscored by a poignant, even melancholic undercurrent of change and loss and flashes of existential meaning about the conflicting demands of spirit and flesh.”

“A rewarding read, with a witty heroine, a
marvelous setting, and lots of fascinating detail about book conservation and
the restoration of art.”

“A wonderfully rich and absorbing story that
seems far too assured to be a first novel. Hellenga forms Florentine art, nuns,
erotica, and American know-how into a kind of della Robbia arrangement of juicy
forbidden fruit…Hellenga knows just how to build a story. The suspense he
manages to create in a book auction scene rivals that of any thriller. In the
course of mending books in Florence, Margot Harrington is releasing herself
from the rigid bindings of her old life, and both processes prove to be
absolutely compelling.”