Book description
Set in Budapest in the spring of 1941, Hope - a spoilt but attractive
society girl and daughter of a leading American business man - finds
herself playing the lead in a dangerous and most unexpected affair of
underground intrigue, through the machinations of her journalist
fiancé. During the course of her activities she falls in love with a
Polish refugee, and at the moment when Germany invades Hungary, she is
already deeply involved - both emotionally and politically.
Bridge, herself an eye witness of these events, tells in moving and
graphic terms the terrible story of Germany's 'protective' invasion;
although it is presented in the form of an imaginative episode, the
historical significance and accuracy are all too tragically evident.
This admirable novel is at once a charming love story in the shadow of
fear and disruption, a subtle and intimate portrayal of human beings in
a time of crisis, and a most exciting narrative, set against the
enchanting background of Budapest. Ann Bridge (1889-1974), or Lady
Mary Dolling (Sanders) O Malley was born in Hertfordshire. Bridge s
novels concern her experiences of the British Foreign Office community
in Peking in China, where she lived for two years with her diplomat
husband. Her novels combine courtship plots with vividly-realized
settings and demure social satire.
Bridge went on to write novels around a serious investigation of modern
historical developments. In the 1970s Bridge began to write thrillers
centered on a female amateur detective, Julia Probyn, as well writing
travel books and family memoirs. Her books were praised for their
faithful representation of foreign countries which was down to personal
experience and thorough research.
