History and the Self: The Fiction of Magda Szabo

Magda Szabó (1917-2007) is now regarded as perhaps the best-known Hungarian novelist and one of the greatest women writers of the 20th century. Her novels, translated into English by George Szirtes and Len Rix, register the impact of the collapse of empires, the Holocaust, and the Cold War, even as they explore how maternity and changes in the role of women have changed people’s inner lives. We will read four fascinating novels by Szabó: Iza's Ballad , about a professional woman who finds it difficult to form relationships, Katalin Street , about those who leave and those who stay in 1950s Budapest; Abigail , the story of a strong-willed young woman confronting the horrors of war; and her masterpiece, The Door , about the complex relationship between a writer and her enigmatic cleaning woman.

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