Jezsuita Kiadó is publishing a detective novel by a contemporary Hungarian author set in 1918, subtly interwoven with church aspects, as the third part of his literary series.
October 29, 1918. Ilka Jánosy will not forget this day for the rest of his life. That was the day his sister ran away from home, and that was the day his detective career began. The Monarchy is falling apart, the Spanish flu is taking its victims cruelly, but Ilka is desperately trying to find Anna, running a race against time. In his seemingly hopeless business, he finds unexpected helpers in the person of a handsome police inspector, Ádám Eperjessy, and a mysterious nun, Sister Erzsébet.
Could Anna's escape be connected to the plans of a dangerous crook? And who is responsible for the disappearance of the pretty actresses of the Vígszínház? Reading A. Christie Kollarits (Kollarits Krisztina)'s fast-paced crime novel, we can imagine the Budapest of the time, and we especially wander a lot in the Palace Quarter of Józsefváros, which was once called the Little Vatican. And while the main characters stumble and stumble from adventure to adventure, and in the process get a little entangled with each other, they come into contact with such real, contemporary people as the Jesuit provincial chief Jakab Bús, social sister Margit Schlachta, or Mari Jászai, the admired actress of the time.
"They say that a writer should write about what he knows. I am passionately interested in the past, the lives of our grandparents and great-grandparents. I was particularly interested in the events of 1918-1919 and the literary life of the 1920s. I browsed contemporary newspapers and magazines, looked at old photos, and read a lot of studies and memoirs. When the elderly sisters of the Society of the Sacred Heart returned to Hungary in 1992, I enjoyed listening to their stories about the old monastic life and the legendary Sophianum high school. I published the results of my research in studies and in my doctoral dissertation, but suddenly a voice spoke to me. Enough of the seriousness! Finally get down to crime!"
- recalls Kollarits A. Christie's twin brother, dr. Krisztina Kollarits , how the story of Miss Ilka's first investigation was born.
The lost girl was included in Jésuita Kiadó's fall 2022 literary series called Úton , not only because it takes place in the immediate vicinity of the Jesuit Church of the Heart of Jesus in Pest. As publishing director SJ Árpád Horváth says in the volume's afterword:
"In this series, we present readers with lesser-known, yet to be discovered literary works that speak of some difficult but liberating turning point in human life. We often have to make serious decisions about where to go next. And there are times when it is most difficult to decide not to deviate from the path we have started, to believe in our originally set goals. In the person of Ilka, the main character of Kollarits A. Christie's first novel, we get to know a young girl whose heart remains fundamentally cheerful despite many difficulties, and who persists in her goals despite disappointments."
the book HERE .
Featured image: Jésuita Publishing
