Detailed plot synopsis reviews of The Towers of Tuscany |
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Isn't that romantic?
Sophia lies to Giorgio and tells her she is pregnant. Giorgio is overjoyed. Sophia says that she wants to go pray at a special vagina shrine several days away. Giorgio agrees to let her go, with Marcello as her escort. In reality, Sophia, who is not pregnant, will not go to the vagina shrine but instead to Siena, to leave Giorgio permanently.
On the road to Siena, Sophia is separated by Marcello by bandits. We know nothing about who they are, where they come from, they just appear out of nowhere, and Sophia gets separated. She immediately doesn't give any more thought to Marcello. He is out of the story so isn't worth thinking about. The characters in this story are like cardboard cutouts who are being moved on a game board.
Click here to see the rest of this reviewSophia meets an orphan named Francisco. Francisco becomes her friend and agrees to accompany her to Siena. In Siena she meets the famous painter Manzini and asks for a job. Manzini refuses, saying his business will be shut down if it is learned that he has a girl painting for him. He could even be sent to jail for the crime of letting a girl touch a paintbrush (see how ridiculous this sounds?). But Sophia says she is a great painter, and that she will disguise herself as a boy.
Manzini agrees to hire her.
This makes absolutely no sense, for a number of reasons. Manzini wouldn't risk losing his business and going to jail for a stranger. He knows that Sophia will have to work closely day after day with his men assistants. Realistically, it's impossible to disguise oneself as a man with people who work so closely together for long periods of time.
But because this story is already so ridiculous in so many ways, Manzini agrees.
Sophia cuts off her hair to make it short, puts on a cap, and uses a cloth to squeeze her breasts really tight so she looks flat-chested. She takes the name Sandro. She meets all of Manzini's assistants and works closely with them and we are supposed to think she fools them all. Are you following this?
Marcello appears. It appears that he was not killed by the mystery bandits. He tells her that Giorgio thinks she is dead and misses her. Sophia says that Giorgio just misses her vagina.
I think that's the second best line in the book.
Sophia starts painting for Manzini and his clients are pleased. Sophia paints better than all the men working for Manzini, a theme we see repeated over and over. She agrees to do a painting for one of Manzini's clients, working on the details with the client's son. The client's son is named Matteo Salvini. Matteo makes a major effort to become friends with Sophia.
Can you guess what's going to happen next?
Matteo reveals what should be obvious to everyone, that he knows that Sophia is a woman. He wants to bone her. He kisses her to start wearing her down.
Sophia refuses to let Matteo bone her. She repeats, over and over, "I am not a whore."
She keeps repeating this, until she lets Matteo take off her shirt and suck her nipples. Then she eagerly spreads her legs and lets him bang her. After that, she's easily conquered.
Here are some of the best lines of the book:
He teased at one nipple. She gasped and cried out. She had never known such a white hot jolt of pleasure. She let him push her onto the cot, let him peel off her rough leggings, let him turn her from lad to woman.
