An Exclusive Love: A Memoir - Softcover

Adorján, Johanna

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0099552671 ISBN 13: 9780099552673

Publisher: Vintage, 2012

Synopsis

One Sunday morning in October, István 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 Adorján 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.

About this title

Review:

"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 Adorján 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)

Book Description:

A moving and topical love story about a young woman who seeks to unravel the mysteries of her grandparents' tragic decision.

About this edition

• Publisher: Vintage
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0099552671
• ISBN 13: 9780099552673
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 192