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4.36 AVERAGE
4.36 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐: I love everything (all two things) that I’ve read by Szabo. Kudos also to Len Rix, who has been the translator for both novels of Szabo’s that I’ve read (this one and The Door). I find that Szabo has a uniquely understated writing style and is able to represent the nuances of what it feels like to experience life in simple but impactful language. I’ve found both things that I’ve read from her incredibly tender and moving; ultimately, her work makes me think about the connections that we have to other people and whether or not we are working to keep those connections alive. In The Door, I was heartbroken by the depiction of how easily we hurt those we love. In Abigail, I was almost soothed by how strong our bonds to each other can be. I think at this particular moment in the world, Szabo’s ethos of care is really worth considering and experiencing.
For fans of: The Door by Magda Szabo (obviously), Iris Murdoch, mayyyybe Umberto Eco’s Name of the Rose, **but be warned that there’s no mystery or thriller plot here.
Read with: Hot apple cider next to a drafty window in the dark, preferably looking over a field with no civilization in sight while it snows heavily. Heated blanket recommended.
Three-word mood summary: Propulsive. Simmering. Tender.
Abigail follows the story of fourteen-year-old Gina, a General’s daughter from Budapest, Hungary, during the Second World War. For reasons unknown to Gina, her father abruptly sends her to a Christian boarding school very far from home. The Matula Academy is strict: the girls must give up their personal possessions, cut their hair in the same style, and devote themselves to a pious life; Matula considers the exuberance of teenage adolescent full of sinful frivolities. However, the reader later comes to understand the usefulness of all this rigidity.
Despite the Matula’s careful watch, some of this teenage playfulness slips through the cracks. The girls engage in speculative fantasies about marriage to inanimate objects and practically worship a statue in the garden named Abigail who is said to watch out for the girls and help them with their problems. The grey world of the Matula is alive with the girls’ hidden giggles and little pranks. Even among the punishments that ensue from these infractions, there is levity to be found. The girls survive their harsh imprisonment by forming a sisterhood of understanding and care. They keep each other going.
But Gina doesn’t fit into this life at first. She comes from the city. She is used to attending parties and dancing with military men. When she gets to Matula, she is understandably underwhelmed by the class of the place. When she is married off to the aquarium, in the girls’ start-of-the-year marriage ceremony, she rejects their attempt at merriment and tattles on them to the teachers. Then, she is systematically cut off from the support of her fellow classmates and iced out of all social interaction.
Far from home and her father, stumbling through the words of hymns everyone else knows by heart, dealing with rejection at every angle, Gina must learn how to adapt to this new life and make amends with her classmates. She must learn how to set aside her pride and disdain for Matula and its teachers. And when her father reveals the real reason he sent her to the edge of the country, she must learn to grow up quickly. Abigail is a coming of age story in which Gina must confront how her ideals match or mis-match the world around her as she becomes more aware of the nuances of politics, love, and what it means to stand for something, even in secret.
Far from home and her father, stumbling through the words of hymns everyone else knows by heart, dealing with rejection at every angle, Gina must learn how to adapt to this new life and make amends with her classmates. She must learn how to set aside her pride and disdain for Matula and its teachers. And when her father reveals the real reason he sent her to the edge of the country, she must learn to grow up quickly. Abigail is a coming of age story in which Gina must confront how her ideals match or mis-match the world around her as she becomes more aware of the nuances of politics, love, and what it means to stand for something, even in secret.
DO NOT PASS GO: spoiler territory ahead.
This is a story about the devastation of war: Gina’s father’s death, the threat that looms over certain girls at Matula, and the destruction that war brings. All of this is present, but Szabo presents it the way I do imagine that teenagers would experience such conflict. The little mundane concerns of everyday life are not overshadowed by the devastation. In fact, many pages go by at a time without the girls thinking about the war at all. And yet Szabo still makes it present for us, even when it might not be for the girls. There is something here about the scale of tragedy—how it shows up in little ways, how we can’t hold onto it all at once when it’s happening. (Though, I’m of course wondering how true that might be now, in today’s digital world. It does seem like we are all trying to hold onto the totality of everything happening around us at all time.) That is the good thing about the Matula, right? It’s remote enough that in large part the girls are protected from what’s really happening. And when things about the war do seep in, they are more impactful because they are presented through the lens of the teenagers’ experience. I’m thinking of when Abigail gives Gina the forged birth papers to give to the other girls to protect them during the incoming Nazi invasion into Hungary. There’s wonderful dramatic irony at work here: Gina isn’t quite sure what they are or why they are needed, though she does seem to sense their importance. We see Gina seeing the other students hand them out to each other and whispering together. The reader is aware of the profound nature and transgression of this moment, on Abigail’s part, but these little details fail to cohere into anything bigger for Gina. This technique is part of what kept me interested in the story and in Gina’s character. Really skillful on Szabo’s part.
And, because this is so long, the last thing I wanted to talk about was the Konig reveal! I suspected, based on the dramatic irony, that Konig would turn out to have something to do with Abigail by the end, but I thought Szabo dealt with Gina’s coming-to-terms of that quite well. She realizes at the end that so much has been happening behind the scenes. The reason that Konig never cared about any of the small infractions the students committed, which was always a source of the disgust Gina had for him, was because he had much bigger issues to deal with. Watching her gain that perspective at the end, and watching her reassess her hatred of both him and Mitsi Horn, was satisfying as a reader. Despite Szabo staying true to Gina’s age in her thought processes, I never felt annoyed with Gina. And so it was satisfying to watch it click for her in the end.
I do think Abigail is an understated book; I’m not sure that it will immediately come to mind for me in the future compared to The Door—which tore my heart out and stomped it to pieces. But I am now on a mission to read everything Szabo has written that has been published in English.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was EXCELLENT! Beautifully written with great plot, character development, friendship, protagonist introspection, and pace was 10/10. I would rate this a 10 if I could. Themes of love, courage and hope throughout the text, I couldn’t put it down. I think this will be a top book for 2025.
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
tense
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Yes
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A beautiful story of growth set during a period where one must grow up as fast due to the circumstances of the world. Abigail is a lovable character who reminds me of a little sister, I am frustrated by her ways in some moments but she comes to realize many things are much larger than what she makes it out to be. The cast of teachers and sister students are all endearing in their own ways, rounding out this wonderfully written story.
reflective
slow-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Szabo, her zamanki eşsiz üslubuyla bu defa bir baba-kız hikayesi etrafında Abigail’in öyküsünü anlatıyor.
Sürükleyici ve öğretici bir kurgusu var.
Okusanız seversiniz bence…
Sürükleyici ve öğretici bir kurgusu var.
Okusanız seversiniz bence…
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Somewhat predictable in the last few hundred pages but engaging nonetheless. Interesting to think about girlhood/youth during war/surveillance
adventurous
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No