The Angel Makers

October 15, 2011
One woman disposes of her problem fiancé, and soon all the other women in her remote Hungarian village want to do something similar. Treading an uncertain line between tragedy and farce, British writer Gregson's debut, based on a true story, can't quite decide on its tone or chief narrative orientation. Is it a war story; a tale of domestic abuse; a witchy fairy tale; a rural parable of spiraling amorality? In remote Falucska, Sari Arany, the orphaned daughter of a respected healer, is taken in by Judit, an "angel maker"/abortionist/midwife. Sari is betrothed to gentle Ferenc, but World War I intervenes, the village men go to fight, Italian prisoners of war arrive and Sari falls for university lecturer Marco. When Ferenc returns, depressed and different, he kills Marco and beats Sari, so, for the sake of her unborn child, she decides to murder Ferenc with poison supplied by Judit. Soon a neighbor wants to use the same method to kill her violent husband, and then an epidemic of murder takes hold. Gregson is a fluent, empathetic tale-spinner, but Sari has no depth and her formless story registers little impact.

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November 1, 2011

Gregson's fictional treatment of the Angel Makers of Nagyrev, a group of Hungarian women who poisoned several dozen people between 1911 and 1929, begins with the orphan Sari Arany. At age 14, she is considered a witch by most people in her rural village because of her knowledge of herbs. When the men leave to fight in World War I, Sari finds a place among the women, newly liberated from their husbands' oppressive domination, who have transformed village life and begun affairs with the Italian POWs housed nearby. When the men return from the front, Sari's fiance among them, the women find themselves forced back into tradition, in some cases violently. In a desperate attempt at freedom, Sari murders her fiance with arsenic. When she agrees to help a friend in a similar situation, she unwittingly leads a whole village down a path of serial murder. VERDICT This beautifully written and engaging debut novel is as compelling as the true story that inspired Gregson. It is sure to appeal to a variety of readers, but especially to historical fiction fans.--Mara Dabrishus, Ursuline Coll. Lib., Pepper Pike, OH

Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 1, 2011
Sari Arany, a natural healer, is an outcast in her small Hungarian village. As an orphan whose father was an unconventional herbalist, she is lucky to be engaged to the son of a wealthy family in town. But when WWI begins, and all the young men leave the village, things change. A prisoner-of-war camp is established outside of town and with it comes a group of Italian soldierswho bring sensuality and a newfound freedom to the village's women, including Sari. When the war ends and the village men return, the women are not so keen on renouncing their independence, and they turn to Sari to help them get rid of the burden of their Hungarian men. Like Tracy Chevalier in Girl with a Pearl Earring (2000), Gregson excels at developing strong, complex female voices; a swift plot; and a story that will hold readers from beginning to end.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)