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As darkness settles on a forgotten castle at the foot of the Carpathian mountains, two men sit down to a final meal together. They have not seen one another in 41 years. At their last meeting, in the company of a beautiful woman, an unspoken act of betrayal left all three lives shattered – and each of them alone. Tonight, as wine stirs the blood, it is time to talk of old passions and that last, fateful meeting.

Fourteen-year-old Gyuri’s father has been called up for labor service. Arriving at the family timber store he witnesses, with nonchalance and boredom, his father sign over the business to the firm’s book-keeper. Two months later he finds himself assigned to a ‘permanent workplace’ but within a fortnight, he is unexpectedly pulled off a bus on his way to work and detained without explanation. This is the start of his journey to, and subsequent imprisonment in, Auschwitz.

On his arrival, Gyuri finds that he is unable to identify with other Jews, and in turn is rejected by them. An outsider among his own people, his estrangement makes him a preternaturally acute observer. Fateless’s power lies in the way it chooses to handle the topic of the Holocaust and in the strength, and strangeness, of its narrative voice.

A busy young writer struggling to cope with domestic chores, hires a housekeeper recommended by a friend. The housekeeper’s reputation is one built on dependable efficiency, though she is something of an oddity. Stubborn, foul-mouthed and with a flagrant disregard for her employer’s opinions, she may even be crazy. She allows no-one to set foot inside her house; she masks herself with a veil and is equally guarded about her personal life. And yet Emerence is revered as much as she is feared. As the story progresses, her energy and passion to help becomes clear, extinguishing any doubts about her bizarre behavior. This is a stylishly told tale which recounts a strange relationship built up over 20 years between a writer and her housekeeper. After an unpromising and caustic start, emotions rise to the surface and ultimately the writer benefits from what becomes an inpenatrable relationship. Simultaneously we learn Emerence’s tragic past which is revealed in snapshots throughout this book.

Available at Libri bookstores in the following shopping malls: Mammut, Árkád, Campona and Europark.