The Dukays

The Dukays are the oldest aristocratic family in Hungary, and this is the tale of their inexorable decline after the First World War. It is the story of Zia Dukay, youngest of Count Dupi's daughters, a modern girl born into feudal splendor in the immense family castle of Ararat, and married with medieval pomp. Not since Scarlett O'Hara has there been so courageous a heroine, so determined to survive the wreck of family fortunes with the man she loves. It is also the story of Zia's sister Christina, romantically involved with the deposed Hapsburg king; of her brother Georgy, who leaves for America; and of Janos, who becomes a Nazi. Told in great richness of detail, The Dukays is a tumultuous and sweeping saga. Lajos Zilahy is the leading Hungarian novelist of the 20th century; among his books are Two Prisoners and Century in Scarlet.