THE DOOR by Magda Szabo (fic )

Magda Szabo who was one of Hungary's most well-known and important writers died in 2007.  "The Door" her best known novel, was published in 1987 and established her reputation world wide.  Szabo was carefully watched during the communist era, and it was only after the fall of the communist government that she was given the recognition she was due. Newly translated into English, the novel was chosen as one of the New York Times best books of 2015.

"The Door" is a masterful psychological study of the relationship between two mutually dependent women.  This magnificent novel had me in thrall from the moment I began to read to the very last page.  It is the story of Magda, a successful author and Emerence, the proud servant, who "chose" to work for Magda and her husband.  Szabo allowed as how this was a thinly veiled account of a relationship in her own life.  There is also a dog, Viola, who is essentially a third character of importance in the book.

Emerence and Magda came from the same region of Hungry, and as the story unfolds it becomes clear that Emerence is the stronger character of the two, and the relationship begins to take on a mother/daughter role.  Emerence is tall and strong in mind and body, and though stern and forbidding the entire neighborhood was dependent on her, especially in the winter when walks needed shoveling and  sweeping. Emerence stands for old bureaucratic Hungary, and Magda the new order that arrived after perestroika.  The women constantly argue and make-up.  While Magda's ill husband, takes almost no part in their dance for dominance, the dog Viola seems to have uncanny insight into their characters. We often see them through his eyes.

The action takes place in a single street where both women reside.  Emerence mysteriously keeps her door locked against all visitors except Viola.  No one goes further than the porch. The door perhaps stands for the barrier to understanding between these two women of differing backgrounds and makeup.  Like Magda, everyone in the neighborhood is deferential to Emerence, despite her violent manic rages.  We are told "....affection can't always be expressed in calm, orderly, articulate ways...."

The moral complexity and tension between the two women gets to the very essence of relationships of love and dependency and makes this book a modern masterpiece.

In the end, as in life, Magda betrays Emerence by her lack of understanding of who Emerence is and what she is about.  Magda realizes this too late and tell us that Emerence was, ".....a woman for whom no one has made a place in her life.  If we all lacked the courage to admit this to ourselves, she at least had done so, and politely taken her leave."

I highly recommend this book as a true and life-like study of the misunderstanding endemic in human relationships.  It is a beautifully written and brutality honest story of one woman's failure to see beyond her own needs.  Whether read for a book group or privately, it is sure to make an impression on the reader.