
An Exclusive Love
A Memoir
Johanna Adorjan(Author)
Vintage (Publisher)
Published on 2. February 2012
Book
Paperback/Softback
192 pages
978-0-09-955267-3 (ISBN)
Description
One Sunday morning in October, Istvan and his wife Vera start their day as usual. They tidy their house; Vera makes a festive cake to put in the freezer and cuts fresh roses for a vase in the living room. That evening, after nearly fifty years of marriage, they lie down in their bed and take their own lives. Having survived the tumult of twentieth-century Europe and after raising a family together, they could not accept the words 'until death do us part'.
While sifting through the fragments of the family history in an attempt to understand this glamorous and enigmatic couple, their granddaughter Johanna Adorjan imagines their final day. Amid the family stories and portraits by friends, she dares to give voice to their never-mentioned experiences in the Holocaust and their escape from Hungary during the uprising of 1956.
While sifting through the fragments of the family history in an attempt to understand this glamorous and enigmatic couple, their granddaughter Johanna Adorjan imagines their final day. Amid the family stories and portraits by friends, she dares to give voice to their never-mentioned experiences in the Holocaust and their escape from Hungary during the uprising of 1956.
Reviews / Votes
Wonderful, extraordinary -- Judith Kerr A profoundly moving story about love, loss, memory and identity -- Tina Jackson * Metro * A moving portrait of a marriage and an uneasy sense of life's banalities as well as its profundities -- Simon Humphreys * Mail on Sunday * I was very much moved by An Exclusive Love... Johanna Adorjan writes with beautiful precision and suppleness... A truly memorable book -- Diana Athill Beautifully written... ...the precision of the detail and the nuance of the writing somehow make the narrative resonate -- Piers Plowright * Tablet *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Vintage Publishing
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 129 mm
Thickness: 13 mm
Weight
139 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-09-955267-3 (9780099552673)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
01/2013
1st Edition
Vintage Digital
€10.99
Available for download
Persons
Johanna Adorjan is editor of the culture section of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. This is her first book.