Robert Hellenga Books

The story follows Gabe Johnson as he inherits his family's bookstore, only to face the harsh realities of a changing industry and the closure of the shop. Determined to revive the family legacy, he relocates to a small town by Lake Michigan, seeking a fresh start. Alongside his entrepreneurial struggles, Gabe confronts unresolved feelings for a former lover, complicating his efforts to rebuild both the bookstore and their relationship. The narrative explores themes of resilience, love, and the impact of change on personal and professional lives.

When book conservator Margo Harrington goes to Florence to aid in restoring the treasures damaged in the flooding of the Arno in 1966, she is entrusted with a rare book that its owner, the abbess of a convent, hopes to sell without the bishop's knowledge. (Nancy Pearl)

An exhilarating novel of romance, art, and food in Florence, featuring the beloved Margot Harrington, who graced Robert Hellenga's The Sixteen Pleasures. Margot Harrington's memoir about her discovery in Florence of a priceless masterwork of Renaissance erotica - and the misguided love affair it inspired - is now, 25 years later, being made into a movie. Margot, with the help of her lover, Woody, writes a script that she thinks will validate her life. Of course their script is not used, but never mind - happy endings are the best endings for movies, as Margot eventually comes to see. At the former convent in Florence where "The Sixteen Pleasures" - now called "The Italian Lover," - is being filmed, Margot enters into a drama she never imagined, where her ideas of home, love, art, and aging collide with the imperatives of commerce and the unknowability of other cultures and other people.

Aus d. Amerikanischen v. Schädlich, Susanne Roman. 332 S.

Ein poetischer Roman über eine verlorene Liebe „Ein bedeutender Roman und ein Zeugnis unserer Geschichte, das uns daran erinnert, wer wir waren, bevor wir im Heute angekommen sind.“ The Los Angeles Times „Ein anmutender Roman, mit einer komplexen Geschichte und vielschichtigen Figuren, gekrönt von gefühlvollen Passagen über den Blues.“ Publishers Weekly „Hellenga hat ein Talent dafür, Orte reich, ja geradezu verschwenderisch zu schildern.“ The New York Times Book Review