Abigail

Where do I even begin? Perhaps here: while reading Abigail, I barely came up for breath. It is that rare book that totally blots out the real world and substitutes another world that is so genuine and raw and mesmerizing that the twinning of reader and plot soon become complete. I would count it among the five best contemporary books I have ever read – and I have read a lot of books! First, the title: I assumed Abigail was the name of the book’s protagonist. Not so. Gina Vitay, a headstrong young teen who is the spoiled only child of a reticent and honorable General, is the core of the story. As the tides of battle shift against Hungary and the Axis powers in the mid-1940s, Gina is summarily informed that she will be exiled to a grim religious boarding school fortress in the middle of nowhere—and no amount of pleading will make a difference. As Gina adjusts to the authoritarian school, part of the intrigue is witnessing the school and the outside events from the perspective of a 14-year-old. The majority of readers will immediately understand the reasons behind the General’s decision (Gina is sure it is because her father wants to remarry and rid himself of her), and they will also recognize what drives the adults who are in charge of her care and quickly guess who can be most trusted. For Gina, the only one to trust is Abigail, a statue in the outside garden who, for decades, has been the recipient of many heartbroken schoolgirl’s laments and cries for guidance. Abigail actually fixes things for girls in trouble with real, handwritten answers. Obviously, the status is not a supernatural force but what cloistered person has adopted the persona of Abigail? Is it someone who treats Gina and the others with obsequious politeness or someone stern and overbearing? It is a mystery that I solved early on but whether a reader does or not matters little. What really matters is the journey to self-knowledge and to what values are most essential. Gina will inevitably reach a crucial juncture where her childhood and illusions will be shattered forever she will don the heavy cloak of premature adulthood and that scene will remain among the most memorable I have read. And she will recognize some universal truths: “…how much more special something was if you had had to struggle to achieve it, and how much stronger you were if you faced life as a group, like mountaineers whose very lives depended on an invisible rope linking them together…” The quality of the writing throughout the book is powerful and propulsive, never calling attention to itself, but through its careful choice of wording, providing a luminous look at a point in time…and in character. It takes an excellent translator to help make this happen and Len Rix was certainly up to the task. I never once felt I was reading a translation. This is a marvelous book and I envy all those who have yet to discover it. My highest recommendation.

This story is a blend of historical fiction and mystery. A young girl is forced to grow up too soon in WW2 Hungary. Szabó does an incredible job writing this yearning and longing. Allegiance is tested, alliances are formed, and it’s written in such a compelling way that you’ll stay up late reading it!

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It's 1943, and Georgina "Gina" Vitay's is the only child of a prominent general. She attends school in Budapest and hangs out with her socialite aunt and her circle. But then her father sends her away to a strict, religious boarding school in the provinces without any explanation. She hates her uncouth and immature classmates as well as the school's strict regiment. Eventually, Gina learns the real reason she has been sent away to boarding school. After that, she makes an effort to fit in, and soon she is one of the girls. But the war is drawing near to Hungary, and Gina gets involved in wartime intrigue with potentially deadly consequences for her, her family, and her friends. And the only people she can unconditionally trust are her father, who is largely incommunicado, and an anonymous benefactor inside the boarding school. There are few books that I find hard to put down, but this was one of them. I kept wanting to find out what would happen next. There certainly were plot elements that were predictable and a few that were hokey. But I definitely recommend this novel. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - I want to add that the blub on the back of the book, which is an except from the Publishers Weekly review, is an insult to _Abigail_. The reviewer likens the book to Harry Potter. That's absurd. This is book is not fantasy. There are no wizards or magic. The girls do leave notes of supplication at the statue of a holy woman, but very early on, it is made clear that a real person monitors the statue and acts as the girls' benevolent patron. If you're looking for magic, miracles, or wonder, this is the wrong book.

Gina, our main character, is a teenager, daughter of a recently widowed Hungarian general. The story takes place at an incredibly strict religious girls’ school. The novel is set around the time when World War II is nearing its end. Hungary is an Axis ally but Hitler’s troops are invading because he feels Hungary isn’t doing enough to help his cause and they are not inflicting his horrors upon the Jews fast enough. I suggest that although the translator’s introduction gives away some of the plot, it is worth reading in advance to understand the complex historical context of what is going on in the world outside the school. The plot is structured around three mysteries. First, why has her father sent Gina away to the farthest end of the country, to this strict all-girls religious school? She would do anything to stay near her father. So what if he wants to remarry? But that's not it. Why can't she stay with her aunt? Her aunt is a very cosmopolitan woman who throws parties for the elite of the city. The second mystery concerns Abigail of the title. Abigail is a statue with a bowl where girls leave notes and get notes back answering their questions and giving them guidance about the most traumatic events going on in their lives. Who is Abigail? The third mystery is: who is risking imprisonment or even death by posting anti-war signs around the town? Gina quickly runs afoul of the other girls. Coming from a wealthy family in the capital, she's too sophisticated for them and she spurns what she considers their silly childish games. They turn on her viciously and she is shunned. She's miserable and she plans an escape. The staff too have many ridiculously stringent rules. In a role reversal the young woman realizes that in creating this prison-like atmosphere for the girls, the staff members have created a prison for themselves. She sees the staff in a room locked in endless, dull meetings, and she feels like an adult looking in at a room of kindergartners playing silly games. All in all, I would define this as a coming-of-age novel. The young woman learns about life and matures in a traumatic environment during traumatic times.

This was not my usual read, whatsoever. The story was so good though. 30 pages in, I was completely invested. Definitely recommend it. Every NYRB classic I've read has been wonderful

DON’T READ THE TRANSLATOR’S INTRODUCTION UNTIL YOU’VE FINISHED! IT’S FULL OF SPOILERS! “Abigail”, by Magda Szabo, has been recently translated and released in paperback by the New York Review Books ”Classics” series. It was first published in 1970. I heard about it through a good friend with whom I share many literary “favorites”. Her rave review of “Abigail” was all I needed to order this novel and move it to the top of my “To Be Read” stack! Set in Hungary in 1943-44, just prior to the German occupation, fourteen year old Gina Vitay is taken from her privileged and carefree life in Budapest, by her loving father “The General”, to a strict and religious all girls boarding school. Why has her heretofore doting father sent her to a place that is both a fortress and a prison? How will such a feisty and smart young woman cope with all the rules and regulations of her new existence? And who or what is this mysterious statue named “Abigail” that the other girls cherish? The first part of the novel; Gina’s interactions with her new school, schoolmates and teachers, is fascinating. But Gina is a child, she and the others are sheltered, completely cut off from news of the war, and she doesn’t understand what we, the readers, begin to realize. The middle part of the novel has the reader gripped with tension by what we suspect that Gina doesn’t. And the final part – well, you will need to set aside time to read the final thrilling chapters because you will not be able to put it down!

This is a YA /Adult fiction, the formative book of almost everyone in Hungary, written by the author of The Door, translated by Len Rix who is visibly in love with the text. It is not something any North American reader ever saw but whoever read it so far, loved it. A coming-of-age story in a girls' boarding school as the ripples of WW2 turn more and more lives upside down - but there are always people who see far beyond their own personal interests and worries, and become heroes in their own quiet way; in a school, in a family, in a church, in a town, or maybe, unexpectedly, in the Resistance. We see it all through the eyes of a privileged 15-yr-old who is not very much affected, or so she thinks, until she needs to move to said boarding school. One of the favourite books of my late childhood. Read it, all ye people.

In the original, Hungarian, the book was published in 1970 and became immediately popular. Gina Vitay is a spoiled 15-year-old girl who has grown up under the care of her father, a general, and her French governess Marcelle. But now there is a war, Hungary and France are on opposing sides, Marcelle is sent home and Gina is sent to a boarding school to the other side of Hungary. The Calvinist strictness of the school astonishes Gina, she rebels, and is scorned by her fellow students - but somehow she has to grow up in the midst of the war going on in the background, discovering that people are often not who she thought they were, both negatively and positively. I really liked it.

Kitabın boyutu büyük, yazıları iri ve okuması kolay.

This was written in Hungary in 1970, translated into English 2020. It could be shelved as Young Adult – the main character is a teenage girl – but it will please all ages. Gina is 14 years old, her mother is dead, she is devoted to her father, a general. She has a spoiled life in Budapest, without a care in the world. She is then sent to a strict boarding school. She is faced with rules and regulations imposed by the teachers, and must adapt to the informal codes of the pupils. Both change her and shape her into a young woman. So it’s a coming-of-age story. It is told from Gina’s point of view, and we are looking through her eyes. An older Gina with her own daughters chips in indulgently about her younger self. The narrative is about her changing relationships to those around her and those distant. The school sees her as no end of trouble but we perceive a welter of insecurities and confidences. A painful naivety underscores her first broken heart. It is set during the Second World War. In 1943 Hungary was on the side of Germany, an alliance that became more oppressive as the war became more brutal. More and more people wanted peace. In 1944 a much harsher dictatorship was imposed and German troops moved into the country. Gina finds herself at the centre of a crisis. A key theme that emerges is the contrast between the school and the wider society. What Gina feels at first as a prison becomes a sanctuary. These events are well-known in Hungary of course, but will be less familiar to English readers. There is a thrilling plot with a tense ending wrapped around the mystery – “who is Abigail?”. We approach this through the confused detective work of Gina, who is no Sherlock Holmes. The reader will realise long before the penny drops for Gina. It is enormously popular in Hungary. Would it appeal to teenagers elsewhere today? No mobile phones, no boys actually, and a secluded boarding school?

I didn't find this as compelling as The Door - the plot-surprises are very guessable and it's 100 pages too long, but it's very well-written and interesting and not like anything else.

I read this book in Hungarian language and I can say this is a brilliant translation! My 10 and 12 years olds loved this book, they couldn’t put it down, but I enjoyed reading it as an adult as well. A beautiful and captivating story about empathy, and about how we judge people with secrets we cannot learn.