Esther's Inheritance

Twenty years after leaving her, the great love of Esther’s life sends a telegram. Tomorrow, he tells her, he is coming back. Esther has not forgotten that her dazzling lover is a fantasist and a liar, nor that he caused her unimaginable hurt. But she also remembers how he made her feel, how he woke a part of her that has ever since been sleeping. A special meal is planned, a car arrives at the house, and – in a heightened visit for which Esther is not remotely prepared – their two lives converge for a second, dizzying time. ‘Like Embers, the novella recounts a dramatically charged meeting after a gap of decades, and it has a similarly intricate symbolism’ Guardian ‘In times of recession, they say, gold never loses its value. Neither do literary gems . . . There are some great writers I find it hard to talk about without gushing, and Márai is on that list’ Sunday Herald ‘Rediscovering Márai is like finding an Old Master painting in the attic’ Sunday Telegraph

Twenty years after leaving her, the great love of Esther’s life sends a telegram. Tomorrow, he tells her, he is coming back. Esther has not forgotten that her dazzling lover is a fantasist and a liar, nor that he caused her unimaginable hurt. But she also remembers how he made her feel, how he woke a part of her that has ever since been sleeping. A special meal is planned, a car arrives at the house, and – in a heightened visit for which Esther is not remotely prepared – their two lives converge for a second, dizzying time. ‘Like Embers, the novella recounts a dramatically charged meeting after a gap of decades, and it has a similarly intricate symbolism’ Guardian ‘In times of recession, they say, gold never loses its value. Neither do literary gems . . . There are some great writers I find it hard to talk about without gushing, and Márai is on that list’ Sunday Herald ‘Rediscovering Márai is like finding an Old Master painting in the attic’ Sunday Telegraph