Authors: Zsolt Győrei – Csaba Schlachtovszky
Original title: Emmuska
Title in English: Emmuska
Publisher: Libri
Year of publication: 2013
Number of pages: 530
A comic, historical murder mystery
The world-famous writer of Hungarian origin, Baroness Emma Orczy, stars in this exciting and entertaining historical mystery novel as she leaves London with her English husband to visit her homeland in order to uncover a crime, which gives us a great opportunity to submerge ourselves in the historical and social changes in Hungary occurring at the end of the nineteenth century. Set in the captivating environment of old-world Hungary, we not only accompany our heroine through her criminal investigation, but also see her finding happiness in the end.
The plot is partly inspired by “Emmuska’s” own eventful life, while it also revives and redefines characters and motifs from her most popular novel, The Scarlet Pimpernel, which has been translated into fourteen languages, and has been adapted for over thirty motion pictures and one musical.
The couleur locale of Hungary appears as a background of the spectacular and grand adventures of Emmuska, who must prevent a mad ice-manufacturer from assassinating Emperor Franz Joseph in her native country. Poisonous dulcimers, grim highwaymen, floating ice blocks on the river Tisza at summertime, as well as the magnificent Millennial Exhibition in Budapest celebrating the thousand-year-old Hungarian state – these serve as a rich background to the detective story.
The novel is based on a very particular narrative structure. Instead of finding a single narrator, we can hear minor and major characters comment on the details of the story from their own perspective. Diverse members of society are afforded the chance to express their opions, from the the village postmaster and a Winnetou-loving teacher to the high nobility, including Franz Joseph and his queen, Sisi. As a result, a kaleidoscope of diverse perspectives creates a text employing a multiplicity of linguistic styles.