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A review by mindfullibrarian
Strangers in Budapest by Jessica Keener
4.0
An enthralling, dark story of Eastern Europe in the 1990s ~ perfect for fans of travel writing and literary suspense stories.
Thanks to Algonquin for the review copy of this title - all opinions are my own.
I have been fascinated by Budapest after randomly watching an episode of House Hunters International, and have lately been reading more and more about Communism and its impact throughout the world. Those factors definitely lead into my deep appreciation of this story ~ a story equally about a historically significant city as it about family tragedies. The descriptions of the city, language and food were absolutely riveting and I inhaled this book in less than 24 hours. In addition, knowing that this book is largely based on the author's own experiences living in Budapest made it even more fascinating - I loved her essay in the Algonquin Reader about her motivation for this book.
If you want to experience a Eastern European country in a time not-long past, and want detailed history and literary social commentary, this one is a must-read. For suspense fans, this is a slow burn and should be entered into with more of an expectation of a tense, dark drama rather than a fast-paced mystery. Highly recommend to geeky readers like myself!
Thanks to Algonquin for the review copy of this title - all opinions are my own.
I have been fascinated by Budapest after randomly watching an episode of House Hunters International, and have lately been reading more and more about Communism and its impact throughout the world. Those factors definitely lead into my deep appreciation of this story ~ a story equally about a historically significant city as it about family tragedies. The descriptions of the city, language and food were absolutely riveting and I inhaled this book in less than 24 hours. In addition, knowing that this book is largely based on the author's own experiences living in Budapest made it even more fascinating - I loved her essay in the Algonquin Reader about her motivation for this book.
If you want to experience a Eastern European country in a time not-long past, and want detailed history and literary social commentary, this one is a must-read. For suspense fans, this is a slow burn and should be entered into with more of an expectation of a tense, dark drama rather than a fast-paced mystery. Highly recommend to geeky readers like myself!