Abigail

This infectious coming-of-age novel from Szabó (1917--2007), released in 1970 and translated into English for the first time, is a rollicking delight. Gina Vitay, the headstrong, spoiled lead, is reminiscent of Jane Austen's Emma. It is 1943 in Hungary and Gina's father, a general, sends her to the Matula Institute, a secluded, Calvinist boarding school for girls. Gina is forced to cut her hair, give away her possessions, and conceal her draconian life at school from her father. After Gina reveals to her teachers a strange, secret school tradition and ruins it, her classmates, all wonderfully rendered, ignore her. Gina resolves to escape, but then her father tells her Germany is going to win the war, and Gina can't return home. In desperation, she turns to Abigail, a mysterious statue that grants students' wishes. The teachers--handsome Péter Kalmár, sentimental König, good-hearted Susanna--are a strong supporting troupe. Readers will thrill as Gina navigates tangled situations--especially when kidnappers hoping to manipulate Gina's father into surrendering arrive at the Matula Institute's door. Szabó pairs the psychological insights reader will recognize from her novel The Door with action more akin to Harry Potter. Gina is one of Szabó's finest creations, and this work should continue to enhance her reputation in the U.S. (Jan.)

Sequestered at a boarding school during World War II, a rebellious teenager confronts secrets, lies, and danger.Published in Hungary in 1970, and translated into English for the first time by Rix, this intricately plotted novel by Prix Femina tranger winner Szab (1917-2007) (Katalin Street, 2017, etc.) complicates a predictable coming-of-age tale by setting it in perilous times: War rages, patriotism incites bitterness and bigotry, and a clandestine resistance movement stealthily arises. When 14-year-old Gina is sent suddenly from her home in Budapest to an elite religious school in the provinces, she feels deeply bereft: of her beloved governess, who was forced to return to her native France; of her aunt's delightful tea dances; of encounters with a handsome lieutenant with whom she is infatuated; and, most of all, of her father, whom she loves so deeply that she "felt the world complete only when they were together." Protected, indulged, and self-absorbed, Gina suffers protracted (and somewhat irritating) adolescent angst. She hates the academy: Once a medieval monastery, it looms like a fortress; girls, dressed in black uniforms, their hair braided unfashionably, are forbidden to bring jewelry, scented soaps, or even toothbrushes from home. Obedience to Christian precepts and school authority is strictly enforcedand, by Gina, repeatedly flouted. She breaks rules, antagonizes her teachers and classmates, and mocks rituals and traditions, including the girls' veneration of a statue they call Abigail, which has the uncanny power to know everything that happens at the school and offer warnings and sage advice. "All my life I have been a wild thing," Gina reflects. "I am impatient and impulsive, and I have never learned to love people who annoy me or try to hurt me." But when her father, visiting unexpectedly, reveals the reason he had to send her away, she vows to behave and realizes that Abigail is watching over her. Far from a supernatural being, Abigail's real identity, Gina believes, is "someone inside these fortress walls who lives a secret life."Urgent moral questions underlie a captivating mystery. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.