Book recommendation March 2024.
In February and March we chose a book by Magda Szabó to read together in our book club.
Magda Szabó: The Door
About the book:
The Door is Magda Szabó's autobiographically inspired novel about the relationship between a writer and her housekeeper. It was first published in Hungary in 1987. In 1995, Stefan Draughon translated it into English, followed by the American edition in 1995 and the British edition in 2005, translated by Len Rix.
The story:
The story spans roughly twenty years, beginning as Magda is returning from a government assignment to return to writing. The writer, who had been writing for her drawer, is once again a recognised artist by the state, and suddenly, she is sought after in many places, with interviews and book appearances to her name. She realizes that she must hire a housekeeper to be able to devote herself to writing full-time. A former classmate recommends an older woman, Emerenc Szeredás, who agrees to work for Magda in her own way, which she does not inform her employer about. Magda doesn't care, so she agrees to hire her as long as she has someone to wash her dirty linen.
Magda and Emerenc have been in a somewhat unusual relationship for several years. Emerenc schedules her wages and time, and she also decides which chores she does and does not do. Despite running Magda's household, Emerenc hides many mysteries, both from Magda and from the people around her. The neighbours, the people of the street, are puzzled but always respectful of the strange old woman, famous for her strange habit of always keeping the door of her small apartment locked, guarding her privacy in the utmost secrecy.
The relationship between the two women changes dramatically after a few years when Magda's husband suddenly falls seriously ill. Magda does not assume that Emerenc is interested in his private life, so she takes her husband to the hospital for an operation without telling Emerenc. When she returns, Emerenc is furious, feeling betrayed. The two women spend the night together, getting to know each other, only on a much deeper level than ever before. Although this night doesn't make them instant friends, it certainly lays the foundation for their gradually developing friendship. Shortly after this episode, Magda and her husband find a hungry puppy. They take it home with the intention of curing, feeding, and selling it. However, Emerenc and the dog soon form an incredibly close bond. Emerenc names Viola (even though she is a male), adding an extra dimension to the relationship between the two women: Magda is the dog's owner, but Emerenc is the pet's favourite person.
Over the next few years, Magda and Emerenc increasingly realise that they depend on each other, something neither could have foreseen. These experiences all set the stage for the drama's conclusion, including the suicide of Polett, one of Emerenc's three friends. As the two women open up to each other, Magda learns many details of Emerenc's life, including those that took place earlier in the same rural area where Magda has family roots. She also learns how Emerenc saved the life of little Eva Grossman, the little daughter of a well-to-do Jewish family whose household Emerenc ran before they left the country. Over time, Emerenc and Magda develop an intimacy that allows her to let her employer into her apartment, which no one else has touched in decades, including her three best friends and her own nephew.
At the end of the story, the ever-reliable Emerenc falls ill, unable to do his job. She locks herself in her home and lets no one in. Magda, genuinely concerned, intervenes and arranges for Emerenc to be rushed to the hospital to get well. Emergency recovers very quickly, but when she realises that Magda has betrayed her secret by letting the street people into her heavily guarded apartment, she loses the will to live and dies in the hospital, leaving Magda to live with guilt for the rest of her life.
Style, atmosphere:
A ballad-like confession, with lots of descriptions, long sentences, metaphors and mood elements.
Book club discussions:
On the afternoon of 23 March, ten of us gathered to discuss this book with a strange atmosphere. What did it give to whom, what did it mean? What did it leave us with after reading it?
We read two Moly.hu comments to start the discussion, one commenter wrote that after reading the book, there was a void left inside. The other commentator asked questions that we also had: could it have been done differently? What would we have done if we had been the author?
We talked about why the book was a bestseller in America, about the universal values that are the same in all cultures: trust, the secret entrusted to someone, betrayal, guilt and forgiveness.
The door as a symbol was also discussed, with a wide range of responses to the question of what the door means to whom in this book and what it means in their own lives.