The Summer My Father Died

Shortlisted for the 2014 Jewish Quarterly Wingate Prize

Yudit Kiss grew up a communist in Budapest, soaking up her father's ideology unquestioningly. As a child she is puzzled when others refer to her as Jewish; she only knows that her family doesn't believe in God. How can they?

As her father lies dying, Yudit tries to understand the enigma surrounding his life. Where does his unshakeable communist conviction come from? Why doesn't he have relatives? As she digs deeper into his tragic history, Yudit is forced to confront the contradictions and lies woven into the life of her family—and her country—through the dramatic twists of twentieth century Hungary.

Yudit Kiss was born in Budapest in 1956. After having worked in Hungary, Mexico, and the United Kingdom, she moved to Switzerland in the early 1990s, where she currently lives. A researcher in economic development, she is the author of a number of articles, research papers, and academic works. This is her first literary work.

George Szirtes is a celebrated poet and translator. His books include Reel, which won the T. S. Eliot Prize in 2005. He is also a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. His translations include Metropole by Ferenc Karinthy.