Novels in Florence #14: Family Chronicle

Family Chronicle tells the story of two brothers: one leads a life of privilege, while the other survives as a struggling writer.
Pratolini’s brilliant prose reveals the depth of spiritual strength in these two men as they draw together once again and develop bonds of love and trust for one another.
“Family Chronicle” (“Cronaca Familiare”) has been critically and popularly recognized as among the most important Italian novels of the twentieth century.
Vasco Pratolini, one of Italy’s leading neo-realist novelists and screen writers, frames his tale against the backdrop of the urban poor of Florence, the rise of Fascism, and the disastrous effects of World War II. (jacket notes - Italica Press).
Family Chronicle, Vasco Pratolini (translation by Martha King), Italica Press, 2008

Novels in Florence #7: A Room with a View

E.M. Forster's brilliant comedy of manners shines a gently ironic light on the attitudes and customs of the British middle class at the beginning of the 20th century.
When Lucy Honeychurch, visiting Italy, mentions the lack of a view from her room, George Emerson and his father offer to swap.
But Lucy's suspicions that the Emersons are the wrong sort of people seem confirmed when George impulsively kisses her during a picnic in the Tuscan countryside. Soon, however, thoughts of that kiss have Lucy questioning her engagement to boorish, if utterly acceptable, Cecil Vyse.
All in all, the situation presents quite a muddle for a young woman who wishes to be absolutely truthful—even when she's lying to herself about the most important aspects of life and love. (from jacket notes - Penguin Classics.)
A Room with a View, E. M. Forster, Barnes and Nobles Classics, 2009

Novels in Florence #3: The Sixteen Pleasures

In 1966, 29-year-old Margot Harrington heads off to Florence, intent on doing her bit to protect its precious books from the great floods--and equally intent on adventure. Serendipity, in the shape of the man she'll fall in love with, leads her to an abbey run by the most knowing of abbesses and work on its library begins. One day a nun comes upon a shockingly pornographic volume, bound with a prayer book. It turns out to be Pietro Aretino's lost erotic sonnets, accompanied by some rather anatomical engravings. Since the pope had ordered all copies of the Sixteen Pleasures burned, it could be worth a fortune and keep the convent autonomous. The abbess asks Margot to take care of the book and check into its worth: "We have to be cunning as serpents and innocent as doves," she warns.
Soon our heroine finds her identity increasingly "tangled up" with the volume and with Dottor Postiglione, a man with an instinct for happiness--but also one for self-preservation. Margot enjoys the secrecy and the craft (the chapters in which she rebinds the folios are among the book's finest). Much of the book's pleasure stems from Robert Hellenga 's easy knowledge, which extends to Italian complexities. Where else would you learn that, in cases of impotence, legal depositions are insufficient: "Modern couples often take the precaution of sending postcards to each other from the time of their engagement, leaving the message space blank so that it can be filled in later if the couple wishes to establish grounds for an annulment." Luckily, however, there are also shops that sell old postcards, "along with the appropriate writing instruments and inks." Through The Sixteen Pleasures is initially in the tradition of American innocent goes abroad to encounter European experience, 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? (from amazon.com)
Sixteen Pleasures, Roberto Hellenga, Delta, 1995