The Portuguese Princess and other Stories

First edition in English. 8vo. 224pp. Red cloth boards, lettered in gilt to spine. Jacket design by John Sewell [priced 30s to front flap].

Translated from the Hungarian by Kathleen Szasz.

Wry short stories set during the Nazi occupation of Budapest, its immediate aftermath and the subsequent Communist takeover. In the title story, three children, left-over scraps of humanity in a post-war world, are given back their impaired childhood by their first visit to the theatre. Best-known in the West for Niki, the Story of a Dog (Secker & Warburg, 1958), an apparently simple story embodying a sharp critique of Stalinism. Winner of the 1948 Kossuth Prize (Hungary's highest arts award).