Nektar oder Der Duft Der Italienerin

by Lily Prior

Liebe geht nicht nur durch den Magen, sondern ist auch eine Frage des Dufts ...In einem Tal im südlichen Italien liegen alle Männer einer einzigen Frau zu Füßen. Dabei ist die Zofe Ramona alles andere als eine Schönheit. Aber ihr betörender Duft läßt alle Männer schwach werden. Alle außer den Inker von La Casa. Der liebt und sieht Ramona so, wie sie ist. Und er will sich ihr nur hingeben, wenn sie ihn heiratet. Ramona ist einverstanden, doch ihre Ehe währt nur eine Nacht ...

Ramona Drottoveo, an albino with unusual looks, is a chambermaid at a lush Italian estate, La Casa. Further distinguished by the intoxicating scent she exudes, Ramona effortlessly bewitches all men, who are driven into an erotic frenzy each time they inhale her aroma. Ramona — haughty and misguided — eagerly satisfies their inexhaustible lust, while the women at the estate scold and despise her.

Ramona's life changes when she marries a sweet beekeeper, a victim of her enchantment. But the marriage doesn't last long: the beekeeper dies after discovering his bride with a new lover on their wedding day. When the beekeeper's body disappears, the superstitious villagers blame Ramona and her lover and exile the couple from the estate to the neighboring city of Naples. The story follows Ramona through her tragicomic misadventures in Naples, where her life is transformed once again by the birth of an unwanted daughter, Blandina, who "steals" Ramona's scent, depriving her mother of her only asset in life. No longer able to seduce men into blind submission, Ramona returns humbly to La Casa to an unexpected welcome — and revenge.

A hilarious and naughty celebration of the senses and the strange places they can lead us, Nectar is a wildly entertaining fable on the mystery and cruelty of sexual attraction and the frivolous nature of divine justice.

Genres: Fiction, Romance, Italy, Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Magical Realism, Humor

254 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

Reviews

[Jean Marie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm meh about this book.
It was solid enough to spark my curiosity to keep reading but I wasn't mind blowing, let alone the "funny, enchanting novel" I though it was going to be based on the blurb.

I think was hurt this book for me was not the author's style or the story itself but the over abundance of minor characters who are given details but are never truly developed. Even our main character, the albino Ramona, isn't fully developed. She's all broad stokes, nothing about her is tangible. And while I think the author intended to make her annoying and ignorant of the world around her, she's still not fully there; while the desire to root against her exists, it can't happen because there isn't enough known about her to truly dislike her. The same could be said about all the other prominent characters. While they're focused on, there isn't enough focus for me, as a reader, to become emotionally invested in them or the plot as a whole.

I feel as if the author chose the middle route on this novel whereas she could have kept it in a pure short story feel or truly fleshed it out and made it a proper novel. I've read short novels before that have been of the same length but ten times more developed. This just had the almost overwhelming feeling of an outline for what could be a much better novel.

The ending was clever, but not enough to save the book as a whole for me as a reader. Ms. Prior certainly has talent, she simply hasn't used it to its full advantage yet.

[Albert · Rating 2 out of 5]

Title - Nectar

Author - Lily Prior

Source - Scottsdale Civic Center Library

Summary -

In Italy, in the countryside, a child is abandoned at a convent and then sent to be a servant in a great house. The child is an albino but what truly distinguishes her as she reached the age of puberty is the scent she exudes. An erotic aroma that drives all the men of the estate mad with lust. She is Ramona Drottoveo.
Unable to venture in the daylight due to her skin condition, Ramona can only step out into the courtyard and gardens at night. Where a bevy of men are lined up to beg and plead with her for her favors. Men who have fallen under the spell of the aroma. She uses them all in return for the favors they eagerly grant her, even the Master of the house.
All but one.
The Beekeeper who has kept himself away from her. For he is a romantic fool and though he could easily fall under Ramona's spell, he would rather fall in love with her. The Beekeeper proposes marriage and Ramona accepts. Not because she feels any love but for the petulance she feels. That any man could deny their lust for her was unacceptable and if it was marriage that would bring the Beekeeper to her than marriage it would be.
Soon after thought Ramona realizes her mistake as the love of the Beekeeper leaves her unsatisfied and bored. Then she meets the new assistant to the Beekeeper and with him she finds the excitement she was missing. Until one afternoon, the Beekeeper finds them together, in his bed.
What follows is death and Ramona embarks on a journey that is driven by the power of her aroma until the fateful day, it leaves her.

Review -

Nectar is a small novel that may have been better served if it had been made into a bigger book. Had more time been taken with the characters and their given situations. The premise is original and quite a good morality tale. What happens when the one thing that made you attractive is suddenly gone and all that is left is the ugliness and selfishness of who you are.
An okay novel that could have been a lot better.

[Hannah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Alright, where do I start. First thing I can mention is that I only finished this book because it just has 266 pages. Otherwise, I would have probably stopped reading.
I bought this book one day with several other books in a bundle from a lovely girl at my local flea market for a bargain and last week I decided to read it since it's so short. Looking at its beautiful cover I was expecting it to be about this beautiful albino girl involving romance and a bit of mystery, whatsoever. However, in the first couple pages already, I was confronted with things such as adultery in a quite uncomfortable way. Let me quote: 'Bend over I implore you and let down your drawers. Just imagine your upturned bottom with my magnificent manhood thrusting in and out of it.' ...what.
I'm not against any love-making at all, but I usually expect it to be at least a little bit aesthetically romantic. I didn't get that though, sadly. It was just the big F.
In terms of the story, the reader follows an albino girl named Ramona who works for a Signor and Signora in Italy along with other servants. Ramona has a very distinctive smell which basically makes all the men crazy and want to... uhm... you know. And all the other women hate her for that.
During the story Ramona expieriences a lot of things, so the book is craaaazy from start to finish. I don't want to spoil anything, because spoilers are the worst, no matter what.
Also, Ramona is probably the first protagonist I've ever read about that I absolutely disklied the entire time and she didn't even attempt to change for the better, or at least have any sort of epiphany. This was kind of interesting though and made the already absurd story even more absurd. I also think this is another reason I finished this novel, because I've never read something like this and all this crazy absurdity made it somewhat funny again.
But all in all, it's not a book I would recommend. It was not a waste of my time though, but I'm happy it's over and I can start another book now.

1/5 stars

[Lucy McNamara · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was the most ridiculous book I’ve ever read, but I’ll give it credit for the fact that I had to find out how it ended since the whole thing was crazy from start to finish.

[Paula Cristina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mais uma vez, um livro da autora que adorei, a capa faz justiça à história.
Lindo.

[Samantha Zee · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a weird book, one that I was open minded enough to try to like. I get that Ramona is supposed to be a character that we dislike and her ignorance and self centeredness is at times, almost funny. But was this a hilarious or charming read? I think not.

Another thing that killed this book for me was the fact that all the characters had weirdly long or foreign names that all started with the same letters and I was constantly lost on who was who. None of the minor characters were fleshed out enough to be memorable and so I just was reading without understanding for their contributions to the story.

[Georgia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It's a fast paced romp. I had a fun time reading it and the writing is really solid. It reads like the lovechild of Perfume: Story of a Murderer by Suskind and Lapvona by Moshfegh.

Lily Prior writes with a similar kind of wit as Moshfegh. I liked this story a lot and it was executed well.

However, it's not without shortcomings. Most of which, I believe, could have been resolved if the book was longer. It felt like Prior was in a rush to tell this story and ended up glossing over the characters, but tbh it still works for me and I'm not mad at it. Would recommend, but selectively.

3.3/5

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always love Lily's books! I don't know how she comes up with these stories, but they are hilarious! I love how she intertwines all of the characters in a comedic way which all comes together in the end. In this story, Ramona is a woman that grabs all of the men's attention through her scent. She gets all of the men that she wants through her manipulative ways, while pining for more. She then gives birth to a daughter named Blandina, who becomes a carbon-copy of herself, however, more evil than ever. I won't spoil the story for you, but it was definitely a great read, one that I would highly recommend to anyone looking for a quirky story!

[L · Rating 2 out of 5]

The idea of a hateful and hideous woman bearing a scent that brings any man to his knees and causes him to do whatever it takes for a mere glance from the woman, could make for a very comical tale. And although this story had its moments, the plot and characters (one of which is a main character) were too underdeveloped for me to give this anything higher than 2 stars.

[Susana Rodrigues Alves · Rating 1 out of 5]

Estava com imensa expectativa em relação a este livro, mas foi a completa desilusão. Uma fantasia tosca, desinteressante, com personagens vazias e um enredo sem ponta de interesse. Acabei por fazer uma leitura na diagonal e deixar de parte, tal o desinteresse...

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Life gets blown out of proportion in this lively novel about temptation. I don't get to read a lot of stories about albino women, and this one was such a treat. Over-the-top, hilarious, bizarre, wildly funny!

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Magic realism

[Deshanti]

Hyperbolic. Dark humour.
It took me a minute to get into and even then I didn't love it but enjoyed it for the weird ass ride that it was.

[Readgina · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 but an additional 0.5 for original and because Italy.

[Kathi McGregor · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not my thing at all.

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m not sure that I recommend this book… based on the writing style I was shocked to learn how recently it was published

[Athena _purple · Rating 3 out of 5]

Started off well. Liked the pace.. but the ending.. not so much.

[Juli · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.3 stars

[Ana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was so funny!

[Musadabwe Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story. Entertaining characters.

[CarWag · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely reads with dashes of humour.

[Ape · Rating 3 out of 5]

From 2009:
This book was absolutely bananas. And not exactly what I was expecting. For some reason, because of the theme of the meet up I´d been expecting trashy historical erotica. This was like a naughty folktale... maybe a few more buttocks that the usual folktale... and really quite funny in a very silly way. One of those books that I picked up because I thought I might as well and then was pleasantly surprised.It is set in Italy, in the early 1900s (I am guessing) and is about this pink eyed, white haired albino maid called Ramona. She does sound as though she looks like a bit of a troll. But she has this amazing aroma and men just go mad for her. She marries the beekeeper on the estate, but the day after is caught in bed with the beekeeper´s assitant. Her husband commits suicide and strange supernatural things start happening. Ramona and her man are banished from the estate. They go to Naples to start again and things continue to be wierd.I don´t want to write out the whole story now, but it is mad, the characters are mad and it makes for really good light reading. It´s not very long either which is nice when your brain is tired.Ramona is a very precocious and self-centered character and despite all that happens to her, she never ever learns a thing. So you feel that she deserves everything she gets, although I did actually feel a bit sorry for her at the end when her daughter had her revenge.

[Lyndee · Rating 1 out of 5]

This novel was a light read and rather ridiculous, but readable none the less.
I'm surprised I even actually read through the whole thing.
The characters were bland, Ramona was extremely annoying as well as her daughter. Well, really, everyone was annoying.
Honestly, I hadn't started to actually enjoy it until toward the end of the book, but even that was ruined.
I finished reading it, yes, but only because I didn't want another book of mine to go unread and abandoned on my bookshelf.

I give this book 1 star, maybe 2 later if I end up changing my mind for some reason. The writing wasn't bad and it was a quick read so I liked that. It wasn't completely un-enjoyable, don't get me wrong, but if I could go back in time and leave the book on the shelf like I first knew I should have, I would.

If you enjoy a light read with ridiculous characters, a silly storyline, and you're easily amused by such, rather than turned off, you may want to pick up this book.

[Tricia · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was a fast read, but that's pretty much all it had going for it. In fact, I think I read it quicker to get the thing done with once and for all. I did keep hoping that the book would redeem itself, but got through the whole thing feeling it lacked any redemption for the characters or plot. There was no sense that the story meant anything, and I went through the whole thing without sympathy for any of the characters or situations. The surreal sense of it all being a fairy tale would have been suitable for the book if there was a moral or comeuppance for anyone. Unfortunately, I don't think I'd recommend this to pretty much anyone.

[Catarina Roque · Rating 1 out of 5]

Uma história que esperei trazer uma história envolvente e que quisesse demorar a ler trouxe o desanimo desde o início. Comecei logo a detestar a personagem principal pela sua forma de ser arrogante e narcisista. Penso que esta história podia ser completamente diferente, porquê até o ódio da filha e dela para com a filha podia ter sido trabalhado.
Um livro estranho que me faz pensar 2 vezes em dar outra oportunidade para Lily Prior.
Dou duas estrelas, porque apesar de tudo, gostei de ver a preocupação (apesar de ser muito provavelmente fingida) pelo signor de La Casa, por parte de Ramona. Única parte onde se pode ver algum tipo de sentimento pelo outro.

[Kagama-the Literaturevixen · Rating 1 out of 5]

The book Perfume: The Story of a Murderer springs to mind.

The main character remained this amoral mystical woman creature throughout the whole book. I dont think we were intended to understand her but this book is more about peoples reactions to her than its a story about her feelings and dreams.(I dont think she had any..except for being rich and having sex constantly)

[Diane · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm hovering between 1 or 2 stars and decided on 2 as I did manage to finish it.The only reason I didn't give up on this was because I couldn't finish the last book I picked up. This was plainly weird. It was just about believable until the daughter's growth spurt which went unexplained - unless I missed something. Other than padding I didn't see the point of including a cast list at the beginning when the majority of those listed were mere mentions. I won't be reading anymore of this author's work.

[niina · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an easy, simple read with splendid quirks, written and translated with great senses of humour. I was extremely busy when I picked the book up, but even though I read it at work (meaning I had to pause and lay it down all the time) and just before falling asleep, I didn't lose my touch on either the storyline or the characters, all of which, by the way, were constructed brilliantly. The setting was pretty, the translation was smooth and I had quite a few laughs following the life of a greatly flawed, imperfect character whom I clearly wasn't supposed to like.

[Shadallark · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was definitely not a book for me. I am sure that there are many people who will like this book, I unfortunately am not and will not be one of them. Whatever it is that the author was trying to impart to me did not come across.

I found the main character to be arrogant, selfish, self centred, and annoying, but not in a manner that allowed me to like her, to detest her, or to really care one way or the other what happened to her. The odd child with the strange powers of growth and development was a strange addition that seemed like a feeble attempt to add a nemesis.

[Scheherazade · Rating 3 out of 5]

A light frothy and pointless read. While the style of writing is enjoyable there is no plot, characters are all unlikeable and unredeemed. You never find out what happened to the corpse or the daughter. It felt unfinished and the only one who found happiness was probably the pig farmer, though you are left not knowing that either. Great for a mindless, easy, summer read, too bad the summer is over. I will try at least one more of this author's books as I like the style of the sentences, I had hoped for more substance.