A review by alexhaydon
Iza's Ballad by Magda Szabó

Iza’s Ballad is a story of love, grief, nostalgia and misplacement. Ettie is yet again another remarkably human character from Szabo, trying to navigate a world without her soulmate, attempting to know her detached daughter and coming to terms with a bustling Budapest. The lack of communication in this novel left me despairing, especially as we follow Ettie slowly losing her own light as the story goes on…but whilst she is our protagonist, there is a cast of characters surrounding the mother-daughter duo who add the detail and context which make this relationship so much more interesting to examine and immensely authentic. A great novel to follow Pedro Paramo as we come to terms with what it means to relate and dwell on those who have passed on.