Emerence is a domestic servant - strong, fierce, eccentric, and with a reputation for being a first-rate housekeeper. When Magda, a young Hungarian writer, takes her on she never imagines how important this woman will become to her. It takes twenty years for a complex trust between them to be slowly, carefully built. But Emerence has secrets and vulnerabilities beneath her indomitable exterior which will test Magda's friendship and change the complexion of both their lives irreversibly.
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(@vintagebooks, 29 February 2012, first published 1987, ebook, 312 pages, bought from @AmazonKindle, translated by Len Rix)
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I've decided to read all of the books in the Vintage Editions series which is exposing me to writers and books I've never heard of and would likely never have picked up. Magda Szabo is a new author for me. I'd never even heard of her before I picked up The Door. This is the longest book I've read in the series so far as the other volumes have tended to be much shorter, novella length. The book is not as dark as I expected, given the confession in the opening pages but I enjoyed it immensely. I enjoyed the way the relationship between Magda and Emerence develops, the kinship they feel despite the fact Emerence is often irritable and stand-offish. They remind me of the relationship between Vera and Dolores in Dolores Claiborne. I really enjoyed this book.
