The Fawn

A popular Hungarian actor reflects on a lifetime of complicated relationships in this beguiling 1959 novel from Szabó (1917–2007), known for such later work as The Door. In 1954, stage and screen star Eszter Encsy addresses an unidentified loved one, revealing that, contrary to her blue-blooded public persona, she grew up in poverty. She had to wear ill-fitting shoes that deformed her feet, her “mad lawyer” father was unable to work, and her mother, who came from a family of aristocrats, resorted to teaching piano lessons and left Eszter responsible for the housework. She also recalls the bombing of their house during WWII and her bitter feelings toward a classmate named Angéla, whose family led a more comfortable life and weathered Angéla’s father’s infidelity. (Even in adulthood, Eszter harbors hatred of the beautiful and wealthy Angéla.) What emerges is a fervent portrait of an often defensive actor who created a role for herself that she can’t stop playing, even when she isn’t on stage. Though the tone is a bit one-note, Szabó keeps this engaging via gradually parceled clues about who she’s talking to and just why she’s so vindictive toward Angéla. Fans of postwar European lit ought to check this out. (Mar.)