Šesnaest užitaka

The protagonist, Margot Harrington, a 29-year-old translator from Chicago, travels to Italy in 1966 to help restore books damaged by the flood of the Arno River. There, in a convent in Florence, where she is staying thanks to friends in the art world, she finds a rare edition of a banned 16th-century erotic book, illustrated by a famous artist – the only surviving copy.

Margot, an atheist who develops a deep bond with the nuns, restores the book while confronting a greedy bishop who wants to appropriate the book for the Church. She uses deceit and cunning to protect the original, plans an auction in Amsterdam to raise money for the convent, and at the same time explores her own past: the death of her mother, the loss of faith, and the longing for love. She meets an Italian art restorer with whom she becomes romantically involved, but also experiences betrayal.

The novel sees restoration as a metaphor for healing, a fusion of religion and the secular, and a search for meaning in the chaos of life. Margot returns home changed, ready for a new beginning, where pleasures – from literary to physical – merge with spiritual growth.