The Door by Magda Szabo

The Door

Magda Szabo

There are no happy endings here but it is by turns hilarious and unsettling. As the narrator's relationship with this stubborn old woman developed I laughed and cried with them.

Extract
This book is written not for God, who knows the secrets of my heart, nor for the shades of the all-seeing dead who witness both my waking life and my dreams. I write for other people. Thus far I have lived my life with courage, and I hope to die that way, bravely and without lies. But for that to be, I must speak out. I killed Emerence. The fact that I was trying to save her rather than destroy her changes nothing.
Parallels
  • Abigail by Magda Szabo
  • The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbary
  • Journey by Moonlight by Antal Szerb