Abigail

Szabo, Magda; Rix, Len (trns.)

ISBN 10: 168137403X / ISBN 13: 9781681374031

Published by NYRB Classics, 2020

About this Item

Near fine copy. Bright and clean wraps. A square and tight copy with little in the way of shelf wear and minimal signs of reading. Internally, the pages show a few soft fold and corner creases. The page remain clean, bright, and free from marginalia. A gift condition copy. .

Seller Inventory # 10894

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Abigail
• Publisher: NYRB Classics
• Publication Date: 2020
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 168137403X
• ISBN 13: 9781681374031
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: Near Fine
• Dimensions: 12.75W x 20.32H x 1.75D centimeters 12.75 centimeters width by 20.32 centimeters height by 1.75 centimeters depth
• Weight: 340 grams

About this title

Synopsis

From the author of The Door, a beloved coming-of-age tale set in WWII-era Hungary.

Abigail, the story of a headstrong teenager growing up during World War II, is the most beloved of Magda Szabó’s books in her native Hungary. Gina is the only child of a general, a widower who has long been happy to spoil his bright and willful daughter. Gina is devastated when the general tells her that he must go away on a mission and that he will be sending her to boarding school in the country. She is even more aghast at the grim religious institution to which she soon finds herself consigned. She fights with her fellow students, she rebels against her teachers, finds herself completely ostracized, and runs away. Caught and brought back, there is nothing for Gina to do except entrust her fate to the legendary Abigail, as the classical statue of a woman with an urn that stands on the school’s grounds has come to be called. If you’re in trouble, it’s said, leave a message with Abigail and help will be on the way. And for Gina, who is in much deeper trouble than she could possibly suspect, a life-changing adventure is only beginning.

There is something of Jane Austen in this story of the deceptiveness of appearances; fans of J.K. Rowling are sure to enjoy Szabó’s picture of irreverent students, eccentric teachers, and boarding-school life. Above all, however, Abigail is a thrilling tale of suspense.

About the Author

Magda Szabó (1917–2007) is considered one of Hungary's greatest novelists. Her prose, dramas, essays, and poetry have been published in forty-two countries and in 2003 she was awarded the Prix Femina Étranger for The Door. The NYRB Classics edition of The Door was selected as one of the New York Times 10 Best Books of 2015. NYRB Classics also publishes her novels Iza’s Ballad and Katalin Street.

Len Rix is a poet, critic, and former literature professor. In 2006, he was awarded the Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize for his translation of Magda Szabó’s The Door.