Afterwards, Gina reflects ‘how very Matula it was of herself not to have screamed.’ On a rare outing to pick autumn fruits (due to wartime shortages the school is necessarily self-sufficient) a prefect falls onto the railway tracks. Gina, headstrong by nature, soon learns to behave as docilely as her companions. She must fit in with the strange traditions of the school and the secret customs of her new friends. Even her hair must be tied according to school regulations. There are claustrophobic glimpses of a Handmaid’s Tale-type vibe as Gina adjusts to boarding school life: her possessions are taken away and she exchanges civilian clothes for the school uniform. Her father is something high up in the army (her mother is long-dead) and her French nanny has been sent back to France because she is now the enemy. It’s the story of Gina Vitay, Budapest socialite in the making, sent to sit out the Second World War in the Matula Academy boarding school for girls. Magda Szabó might be best known outside Hungary for The Door, but at home Abigail is her most widely-read novel.
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