HUNGARIAN DANCES by Jessica Duchen (Hodder & Stoughton, March 2008)
When disaster befalls her best friend, Karina feels compelled to question the very foundations of her existence. Born in Britain to Hungarian parents, wife to a very English husband and mother of a young son descended on one side from the lord of the manor and on the other from a dynasty of wandering minstrels, Karina feels she belongs in neither one world nor the other. But Rohan, a fellow violinist and fan of her own grandmother, encourages her to delve into her Hungarian family background and her Gypsy ancestry. Her discoveries will change her life forever.

Past and present collide in the intertwining stories of Karina and her grandmother, the celebrated violinist Mimi Rácz. Love and loss, displacement and continuity mingle in a moving panorama that spans eighty years and is permeated by the family’s one constant: the sound of the violin.

Hungarian Dances is a love story, a mystery and a tale of extraordinary personal transformation.
 
 
Read reviews of HUNGARIAN DANCES here
 
"A great love story and mystery set in – among other things – the world of Hungarian gypsies and passionate musicians. Duchen has a rare talent which is increasingly being recognised." - Gavin Esler, The Glasgow Herald
 
 
 
Jessica Duchen was born in London and grew up with music and writing as twin passions. Hungarian Dances is her third novel, following wide acclaim for Rites of Spring and Alicia’s Gift. She is a music journalist for The Independent and is also the author of two biographies and several stage works.
 
     
 

Interview in Hungarian

... click on logo to read Jessica's interview with Hungarian national paper Nepszabadsag about "Hungarian Dances". (in Hungarian)
   
Interview with Erika Orbán
... click on logo to read Jessica's interview with Erika Orbán of 'as woman.net' about life, work, and "Hungarian Dances". (in English)