Historical fiction books from Hungary
Recommended historical fiction books (10)
Travel the world without leaving your chair.
If you are into historical fiction here are some historical fiction books from Hungary for the next part of the Read Around The World Challenge.
1.
Abigail by Magda Szabó EN
Description:
A teenage girl's difficult journey towards adulthood in a time of war. "Szabo is skilful at creating moments of heart-rending tension, often through exquisite, evocative prose . . . the novel has a devastating power" Spectator Of all her novels, Magda Szabó's Abigail is the most widely read in her native Hungary. Now, fifty years after it was written, it appears for the first time in English, joining Katalin Street and The Door in a loose trilogy about the impact of war on those who have to live with the consequences. It is late 1943 and Hitler, exasperated by the slowness of his Hungarian all... continue
3.
Journey by Moonlight by Antal Szerb EN
Description:
Travelling to Italy on their honeymoon, Erszi and Mihaly are ready to take in all the beauties and pleasures of the country. But when they reach Venice, it is clear that Mihaly prefers to roam around the back alleys and the canals on his own, and as they continue their journey through the Bel Paese there is a growing sense of unrest between them, until Mihaly misses the train to Rome they were due to take together. Wandering alone from city to city, with his marriage rapidly falling apart, Mihaly must confront the ghosts of his past and try to find a sense of purpose.
4.
Katalin Street by Magda Szabó EN
Description:
From the award-winning author of The Door comes Katalin Street, first published in Hungarian in 1968 and translated into French, German, and Swedish. This elegant English translation by Agnes Farkas Smith now makes Katalin Street available to an even wider audience.
5.
Los desposeídos by Szilárd Borbély ES
Description:
Los Desposeídos es un profundo ejercicio de comprensión del escenario de la infancia del autor: la Hungría de mediados del siglo XX, un país traumatizado por la Segunda Guerra Mundial, el regreso de los supervivientes de los gulags y la expropiación de las tierras por los comunistas. A finales de los años sesenta, una fam ilia lucha por sobrevivir a la miseria en un pequeño pueblo fronterizo de Hungría. El hijo de once años se evade del frío y el hambre imaginando un universo propio en el que gobiernan los números primos mientras observa con todo detalle el mundo que le rodea. Se trata de un m... continue
6.
The Bronze Eagle by Emmuska Orczy EN
Description:
The perfect calm of an early spring dawn lies over headland and sea—hardly a ripple stirs the blue cheek of the bay. The softness of departing night lies upon the bosom of the Mediterranean like the dew upon the heart of a flower.A silent dawn.Veils of transparent greys and purples and mauves still conceal the distant horizon. Breathless calm rests upon the water and that awed hush which at times descends upon Nature herself when the finger of Destiny marks an eventful hour.But now the grey and the purple veils beyond the headland are lifted one by one; the midst of dawn rises upwards like the... continue
7.
The Notebook : The Proof ; The Third Lie : Three Novels by Agota Kristof EN
Description:
Kristof's postmodern saga begins with The Notebook, in which the brothers are children, lost in a country torn apart by conflict, who must learn every trick of evil and cruelty merely to survive.
8.
The Scarlet Pimpernel by Emmuska Orczy EN
Description:
The first and most successful in the Baroness’s series of books that feature Percy Blakeney, who leads a double life as an English fop and a swashbuckling rescuer of aristocrats, The Scarlet Pimpernel was the blueprint for what became known as the masked-avenger genre. As Anne Perry writes in her Introduction, the novel “has almost reached its first centenary, and it is as vivid and appealing as ever because the plotting is perfect. It is a classic example of how to construct, pace, and conclude a plot. . . . To rise on the crest of laughter without capsizing, to survive being written, rewritt... continue
9.
They Were Counted by Miklós Bánffy EN
Description:
"Perfect late night reading" JAN MORRIS "Banffy is a born storyteller" PATRICK LEIGH FERMOR "Totally absorbing" MARTHA KEARNEY "So evocative" SIMON JENKINS An extraordinary portrait of the vanished world of pre-1914 Hungary, this epic story is told through the eyes of two cousins, Count Balint Abady and Count Laszlo Gyeroffy. Shooting parties in great country houses, turbulent scenes in parliament and the luxury life in Budapest provide the backdrop for this gripping, prescient novel, forming a chilling indictment of upper-class frivolity and political folly in which good manners cloak indiffe... continue
10.
Under the Frog by Tibor Fischer EN
Description:
Set in post-war Hungary between 1944 and 1956, the story follows the lives of two young men and in particular their careers in a travelling basketball team. They spend most of their time in the avoidance of work and army service and in the pursuit of sex.