A Fabulous Liar

Berthold Auerbach Literature Prize 2012
Complete French and English translation available

Joschi Molnár had five children with five different women, lost two children and his second wife in Auschwitz, was a prisoner in Buchenwald, and he left behind a legacy of fantastic stories, tragic involvements and blatant lies. The wonderful storyteller has left his children with many different versions of his life and remains a mystery. Thirty years after his death, the hundredth anniversary of his birthday brings the half-siblings Hannah, Marika and Gabor together for the first time in Weimar. They have completely different impressions of their father. The betrayer. The missing person. The storyteller – and the Jack of all trades, witty and imaginative.

With a keen power of observation, great compassion and plenty of humour, Susann Pásztor tells a family story in which the tragic and the comic are very closely related. A wonderful and charming family story.

»Susann Pasztor tells an excellent story, vivid, digressive, funny, bitter-sweet in its portrayal of family comedy against a tragic historical backdrop. Lily’s voice, on the threshold of adulthood but relishing her immaturity, is a joy, and the family are terrific fun to be with. A refreshing new voice, and a wistful, conciliatory take on the horrors of the last century.« (New Books in German, Spring 2010)