Temptation (Paperback)
  • Temptation (Paperback)
zoom

Temptation (Paperback)

(author), (translator)
1 Review Sign in to write a review
£12.99
Paperback Published: 26/03/2020
  • 5+ in stock

Usually dispatched within 2-3 working days

  • This item has been added to your basket
Béla has never had much luck. His mother abandoned him at birth to go to work in Budapest, leaving him in the care of the dubious 'Aunt Rozika', a former prostitute who now runs a foster home with equal parts hauteur and cruelty. Victimised and almost starved by his guardian, Béla must fight for everything, from scraps of the other boys' food to the right to go to school. At fourteen he is caught trying to steal a pair of shoes; his mother is called and she reluctantly takes him with her to Budapest.

Once in the capital Béla manages to secure a position at a grand old hotel, and it is here that a more privileged lifestyle seems to extend a hand to him. Operating the lift, Béla encounters people from across Hungarian society and beyond, including the beautiful daughter of an American businessman and a passionate revolutionary. But his new lifestyle offers both pleasures and perils, and Béla must find a way to forge his own life from the divergent influences that surround him.

A picaresque classic with a rich vein of bawdy humour, Temptation is an under-appreciated masterpiece of twentieth-century fiction. Rich, varied and endlessly entertaining, the novel creates a stunning panorama of Hungarian society through the travails of its singularly charming hero.

Publisher: Pushkin Press
ISBN: 9781782275480
Dimensions: 198 x 129 mm


MEDIA REVIEWS
Temptation is a fascinating novel set in the Horthy period, and its author, János Székely, is equally fascinating... The densely packed story is, in genre terms, a racy, filmic cross between a Picaresque and a Bildungsroman

You may also be interested in...

Small Things Like These
Added to basket
£8.99   £7.49
Paperback
Antarctica
Added to basket
£9.99   £8.49
Paperback
Demon Copperhead
Added to basket
£9.99   £8.49
Paperback
Shrines of Gaiety
Added to basket
£9.99   £8.49
Paperback
The Pumpkin Spice Café
Added to basket
£9.99   £8.49
Paperback
The Last Devil to Die
Added to basket
£22.00   £16.99
Hardback
Murder On The Christmas Express
Added to basket
Really Good, Actually
Added to basket
£9.99   £8.49
Paperback
The Harry Potter Wizarding Almanac
Added to basket
£30.00   £23.99
Hardback
The Last Devil to Die
Added to basket
Prophet Song
Added to basket
£16.99   £14.99
Hardback
The Marriage Portrait
Added to basket
£9.99   £7.99
Paperback
The Thursday Murder Club
Added to basket
£9.99   £7.99
Paperback
Empire of the Damned
Added to basket
Trust
Added to basket
£9.99   £8.49
Paperback

“Excellent story with timeless lessons. Moving. A must read.”

One of the best books I have read. Strong storyline. No intellectual pomposity. Timeless lessons. The reason for the rise of the underclass, working class in the early 20th C becomes crystal clear. Truly moving... More

Paperback edition
Helpful? Upvote 2

Please sign in to write a review

Your review has been submitted successfully.

env: aptum
branch: