Review of The Hunting Rug by Gabor Gorgey

Quite a difficult book, with a narrative that darts about in time and lots of Hungarian history - not all that many novels have footnotes, do they?

Good though - moody and thoughtful, with lots of understated descriptions of the post-war Communist regime.

Reading it I became aware, once again, how distinct and different Hungary seems; I'm pretty good on European history and yet most of the history in it is completely unfamiliar. I didn't even know about the siege of Budapest or the fighting in the city. I was also confused about the description of Romanian soldiers in the siege - I hadn't realised that Romania had swapped sides during 1944.