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historical fiction

The Dressmaker of Paris

The Dressmaker of Paris

  • Fiction

I liked the cover and title, and I started fantasising about the story before reading it (I don’t recommend doing this because it sets up expectations that are clearly going to be disappointed!). That’s why I picked it up. However, I read it right after DNFing a Murakami book because I wasn’t in the mood for violence, and just a few pages in, I hit a very disturbing rape scene (and I had a déjà vu moment thinking back to when I read Magpie). I… Read More »The Dressmaker of Paris

Daisy Jones & The Six

This book is about sex, drugs, and rock and roll. Taylor Jenkins Reid’s writing is fantastic and makes it super easy to imagine everything in your mind as you read. She’s so good at making the characters feel real that the story is vivid. From start to finish, it’s like you’re watching a movie. Speaking of which, I think they’ve just released an adaptation of this book. But, even though the writing is clever, I didn’t get deeply into the story and unfortunately, I didn’t… Read More »Daisy Jones & The Six

Le braci (di Sándor Márai)

This is an introspective novel and the story is centred around two old friends, Henrik and Konrad, who have a reunion after 41 years. It is primarily a long and intense soliloquy by Henrik, exploring the meaning of life, love, and above all, friendship. The other character, Konrad, is allowed to speak only occasionally, which kept me frustrated. In fact, while Henrik’s monologue is eloquent and thought-provoking, it would have been intriguing to hear Konrad’s perspective and insights as well. Another aspect that disappointed me… Read More »Le braci (di Sándor Márai)

The Door (by Magda Szabó)

This is a beautifully written novel that explores the complex relationship between two women: Magda, a writer, and Emerence, her housekeeper. The most striking aspect of the novel is the character of Emerence, whom I struggled to connect with. On the other hand, I was invested in the thoughts and emotions of Magda. Her inner reflections on her relationship with Emerence were captivating. I loved the second half of the book as it explored the themes of shame and guilt felt by the two characters.… Read More »The Door (by Magda Szabó)

The Unbearable Lightness of Being (by Milan Kundera)

This is a toughie. While I definitely loved the poetic title and the style of alternating fiction with non-fiction, I found the plot challenging to follow. It’s not a typical plotline, it’s non-chronological and non-linear. You need to be fully immersed in the book to understand its structure, otherwise you easily get lost. At some point, I even felt overwhelmed and almost guilty that I was not dedicating to it the right amount of effort. There’s lots of deep philosophy in it that triggered many… Read More »The Unbearable Lightness of Being (by Milan Kundera)

The Queen’s Gambit (by Walter Tevis)

I made a mistake. I made a beginner’s mistake. I watched the Netflix series first and a few days later I read the book. I will never do this again. I’ll always read the book first and watch the screen adaption after. The reason is that I couldn’t develop any imagination while I was reading, because I already knew the details of the whole story and how this was going to end. I missed a lot the making up in my mind of the visual… Read More »The Queen’s Gambit (by Walter Tevis)

Birdsong (by Sebastian Faulks)

Sebastian Faulks is a British best-selling novelist here in the UK and this is the first book, written by him, that I read. It’s a powerful story of love and war. The part about love was very sensual and intense. The part about war showed the horrors in detail and in a realistic manner, so much so that I could identify with the human despair. The writing style was so descriptive that I felt like I was watching a film. It triggered many strong emotions… Read More »Birdsong (by Sebastian Faulks)

Journey by Moonlight

Journey by Moonlight (by Antal Szerb)

This book is special to me, just knowing that I was going to read it at the end of my day made my day happy. A classic of Hungarian literature (Utas és Holdvilág), it was written by Antal Szerb, one of the major Hungarian writers of the 20th century. His works have been translated into many languages. Because of his Jewish background, he faced strong hostility and persecution, until he was atrociously beaten to death by the guards of a concentration camp in 1945, at… Read More »Journey by Moonlight (by Antal Szerb)

The Women of Brewster Place

The Women of Brewster Place (by Gloria Naylor)

I wish I had read the content warnings first: rape, homophobia (strong graphic content), child death, alcoholism, physical abuse and some other bad and heavy stuff that I don’t like to read. I was tempted to not finish it on many occasions, and I did find myself skimming a bit because the writing wasn’t capturing my attention. I could follow it, but I just couldn’t connect to the story. I know this book is considered a classic but unfortunately it didn’t work for me. I’m… Read More »The Women of Brewster Place (by Gloria Naylor)

Opium – Selected Stories (by Géza Csáth)

This collection of stories was written between 1905 and 1912 and explores some of the darkest sides of human life. The author, Géza Csáth, was born in Hungary at the end of the 19th century. Amongst other things, he was a short-story writer with a short life – he died when he was just 31 years old, shortly after the end of the Austro-Hungarian empire and after escaping from a psychiatric hospital. I’ve read that he had developed an addiction to morphine to deal with… Read More »Opium – Selected Stories (by Géza Csáth)