Author: Viktor Horváth
Original title: Török tükör
Title in English: Turkish mirror
Year of publication: 2009, 2019
Publisher: Jelenkor, Prae
Number of pages: 550, 416
Rights sold: Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Italy, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Turkey
A historical novel? Yes and no. It follows the adolescence of a Turkish boy, the son of the Pasha of Pécs (a town in the southern part of the Kingdom of Hungary) during the period of Turkish rule in Hungary. A strange perspective: that of a child who does not understand everything about politics, a child who is on the side of the invaders and not of the heroic resistance, of an upper class surrounded by mythological ancestors and fictional heroes like Ali Baba, Sindbad or Jakub al Muhadjar.
This is a coming of age story, a fascinating book of adventures, but on the other hand this is an accurate historical novel with real historical events, depicting one chaotic period of the European history, in the footsteps of Mika Waltari or Umberto Eco.
Read more (external link with excerpt in English)