Literary sensation Lázár by Nelio Biedermann will be on many TBR lists this summer. His debut historical fiction novel has caused a stir far beyond Hungary, where it’s set, and is a good first stab from the 22-year-old author. It’s the riches to rags story of the aristocratic Lázár family living through the upheavals of the 21st century. Who doesn’t crave a sweeping historical fiction novel? And Biedermann succeeds – almost.
The Lázárs live – as you would expect – in a grand house in the Hungarian countryside surrounded by servants, silverware and a dark, menacing forest. The Austrian Hungarian Empire is alive and well. As the novel starts, Lajos is born – a child with ‘water blue eyes’ and translucent skin – who looks nothing like his father Sandor and a lot like the stable boy. Not a great start in life.
Life moves on – comfortably if not happily – and the dramas are mostly domestic: infidelities, mental illness, alcoholism and a suicide. Lajos grows up deprived of a stable home life and is hellbent on restoring the glory of the family name. His own marriage produces two children, Pista and Eva, whose lives will take us all the way to the 1956 uprisings.
The rise of Hitler’s Germany changes everything. Lajos’ loyalty to the Jews in the community will be tested, his business crushed. Whereas the first part of the novel feels a bit rushed, this is where it picks up focus. As we know, the Second World War was only the beginning of the Hungarians’ misery. The Lázárs will feel Stalin’s hatred of the privileged elite and Biedermann portrays well their rapid fall from grace.
Biedermann is a good storyteller especially considering his young age (which perhaps also explains his tendency for every relationship to end in unrequited desire or sex). I’ll forgive him for that but I’m not sure I’d be so generous towards his editor which should have spent more time guiding this talented author. I’ll be looking forward to his next, though.
Lázár by Nelio Biedermann is translated by Jamie Bullock and published by MacLehose Press, 304 pages.
