Iza’s Ballad
Iza’s Ballad by Magda Szabo, published by New York Review of Books on October 18, 2016, is a poignant exploration of the complex relationship between a mother and daughter set against the backdrop of post-World War II Hungary. This edition spans 352 pages and is presented in English. The narrative follows Ettie, an elderly mother from a traditional background, and her daughter Iza, a progressive doctor actively involved in the resistance against the Nazis. As Iza brings Ettie to Budapest after the death of her husband, their differing perspectives on life create tension and misunderstanding.
Readers will find a deep examination of family life and psychological dynamics as the two women navigate their contrasting worlds. The story delves into themes of generational conflict and the challenges of care and connection, highlighting how good intentions can lead to emotional distance. Szabo’s narrative captures the struggles of both characters as they attempt to bridge their differences while grappling with their individual identities in a rapidly changing society.
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From the author of The Door, selected by The New York Times Book Review as one of the ten best books of 2015
An NYRB Classics Original
Like Magda Szabó’s internationally acclaimed novel The Door, Iza’s Ballad is a striking story of the relationship between two women, in this case a mother and a daughter. Ettie, the mother, is old and from an older world than the rapidly modernizing Communist Hungary of the years after World War II. From a poor family and without formal education, Ettie has devoted her life to the cause of her husband, Vince, a courageous magistrate who had been blacklisted for political reasons before the war. Iza, their daughter, is as brave and conscientious as her father: Active in the resistance against the Nazis, she is now a doctor and a force for progress. Iza lives and works in Budapest, and when Vince dies, she is quick to bring Ettie to the city to make sure her mother is close and can be cared for. She means to do everything right, and Ettie is eager to do everything to the satisfaction of the daughter she is so proud of. But good intentions aside, mother and daughter come from two different worlds and have different ideas of what it means to lead a good life. Though they struggle to accommodate each other, increasingly they misunderstand and hurt each other, and the distance between them widens into an abyss. . . .
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