num_pages: 262
description: A busy young writer struggling to cope with domestic chores, hires a housekeeper recommended by a friend. The housekeeper's reputation is one built on dependable efficiency, though she is something of an oddity. Stubborn, foul-mouthed and with a flagrant disregard for her employer's opinions she may even be crazy. She allows no-one to set foot inside her house; she masks herself with a veil and is equally guarded about her personal life. And yet Emerence is revered as much as she is feared. As the story progresses her energy and passion to help becomes clear, extinguishing any doubts arising out of her bizarre behaviour. A stylishly told tale which recounts a strange relationship built up over 20 years between a writer and her housekeeper. After an unpromising and caustic start benign feelings develop and ultimately the writer benefits from what becomes an inseparable relationship. Simultaneously we learn Emerence's tragic past which is revealed in snapshots throughout the book.
language: English
title: The Door
titlecomplete: The Door
characters: Viola, Polett, Sutu, Magda, Emerenc, Adelka
genres: 20th Century, Literature, Classics, Literary Fiction, Womens, Novels, Hungarian Literature, Hungary, Historical Fiction, Fiction
ratings_count: 24984
places: Hungary
awards: awardedAt: 1041408000000
name: Prix Femina
category: Étranger, awardedAt: 1136102400000
name: Independent Foreign Fiction Prize
category: Shortlist, awardedAt: 1136102400000
name: Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize
publisher: Harvill Press