Mr. Zilahy was the most popular Hungarian writer of his time; wrote three novels tracing the Dukay family, a fictitious Magyar family in the Austro-Hungarian Empire through to the takeover by the Communist after World War II. This book covers the time after World War I through about 1950.
The novel contain a very interesting in insightful study of the Magyar nobility of the time, from their belief in their superiority over their Romanian subjects, their resentment of their German neighbors and their inability to recognize their soon to be realized inability to adapt to a rapidly changing world. Proud and haughty, they refused to work with the Austrians (the Magyars and Austrians were the two major power holders of the Dual Crown, Austro-Hungarian Empire aka Habsburg Empire) and would block even military budgets over which color knots their officers could wear on their sabers. The book is also filled with interesting historical facts (the belief that Cleopatra’s true source of power was the amber ring and how this led to the founding of Budapest and a rush by women for amber), etc.
Few novels are well written, but Zilahy was successful in weaving an interesting web of actual history with fictional character development, with many experiences drawn from his personal experiences. You feel that you are cast back into that time; the characters are vivid, the situations interesting and you have a cast if personalities to remember long after you have finished the book. Well worth a read.
