Novel
A historical novel about the present, Noémi Szécsi’s new novel explores some life strategies that women tend to employ in our time. The reader has a chance to take a sneak peek into various venues in contemporary Budapest, from ruin pubs to luxury parties of the cultural élite at a home restaurant in downtown Budapest, with some scenes taking place at the location shooting of a historical film series. Portrayed sarcastically yet empathically, the two main characters are professional women, friends and rivals: Elza, a lawyer who has recently returned from England and now works for a publishing house, and Em, a cultural historian who is working as an advisor to the film shoot. They are both witty and neurotic, trying to tough it out in the turbulent Europe of the 2010s. The novel is dominated by the dialogues and inner monologues of these two women, with some minor characters appearing here and there: family members responsible for various traumas; rivals; lovers, past and present; mentors who foul up their mentees’ budding careers; and a heiress who sees ghosts.
Noémi Szécsi’s novel of fers a trip to Budapest at the beginning of the 21st century: one of the hottest partying cities of Europe, with painful individual stories behind the scenes. Trying to capture the moment when social realit y becomes history and history becomes acutely felt in the present, this book shows that the ghosts haunting us will only become visible when we realize that the characters in our lives—including ourselves—have also become ghosts.
A story of two women drenched in tears and alcohol in 21st century Budapest
Product details
ISBN 978 963 14 3600 6
2017, hard cover with jacket
240 pages, 140×200 mm
3999 HUF
Magvető Rights 
You must be logged in to post a comment.