June 30 2020

Abigail (1970) by Magda Szabo
Translated from the Hungarian by Len Rix (2020)

Written 50 years ago, and only now translated into English, Abigail is a war story unlike any I've read before. Gina Vitay, the 14-year-old heroine, is the beloved only child of a prominent widowed military leader in World War II Hungary.  Educated at home by a French tutor and accustomed to concerts and other cultural events in her native Budapest, Gina is naturally upset when in the fall of 1943, her father brings her to a strict religious boarding school far from home.  Initially furious with her father, she alienates her fellow students and runs away.  Fortunately, she is caught by one of the teachers and returned to the school.  Eventually, she learns that her father is in some danger and the only way to keep Gina safe is to hide her whereabouts.  Eventually she endears herself to the other girls, after much soul searching, but she constantly fears for her father's safety, and she inadvertently compromises her own safety more than once.  She learns about the mysterious Abigail, a garden statue who helps the girls when they're in need, and wonders who is behind Abigail's notes and help?

This is a suspenseful story on many levels, but as a coming-of-age story has many humorous and endearing moments involving the girls' camaraderie, first love, and their relationships with the teachers.  Gina is a feisty, likely heroine.  Magda Szabo, who was herself a teacher in Hungary during the Germany and Russian occupations (1944-45), writes compassionately and very well.   Len Rix has produced an excellent translation that neither feels like reading through a foggy lens nor in simplistic language, as is the case with many translated works, but feels fresh and immediate.  I could hardly put this book down!