The Balkan trilogy

Manning, Olivia

£18.99

Living and working in Rumania, Guy and Harriet Pringle are forced to evacuate to Greece before the steady advance of the German army. ‘The Balkan Trilogy’ is the portrait of their marriage, a haunting evocation of a vanished way of life and an ironic comedy of manners in a breaking world.

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Publish Date: 11/03/2021

Description

‘Her gallery of personages is huge, her scene painting superb, her pathos controlled, her humour quiet and civilised’ Anthony Burgess

‘So glittering is the overall parade – and so entertaining the surface – that the trilogy remains excitingly vivid; it amuses, it diverts and it informs, and to do these things so elegantly is no small achievement’ Sunday Times

‘A fantastically tart and readable account of life in eastern Europe at the start of the war’ Sarah Waters

The Balkan Trilogy is the story of a marriage and of a war, a vast, teeming, and complex masterpiece in which Olivia Manning brings the uncertainty and adventure of civilian existence under political and military siege to vibrant life.

At the heart of the trilogy are newly-weds Guy and Harriet Pringle, who arrive in Bucharest – the so-called Paris of the East – in the autumn of 1939, just weeks after the German invasion of Poland. Guy’s lecturing job awaits, alongside friends and the ever-ardent Sophie – but for Harriet, alone and naive, it’s a strange new life. Other surprises follow: Romania joins the Axis, and before long German soldiers overrun the capital. The Pringles flee south to Greece, part of a group of refugees made up of White Russians, journalists, con artists, and dignitaries. In Athens, however, the couple will face a new challenge of their own…

Additional information

Weight 703 g
Dimensions 198 × 129 × 43 mm
Author

Publisher

Imprint

Cover

Paperback

Pages

1040

Language

English

Edition

Omnibus ed

Dewey

823.914 (edition:23)

Readership

General – Trade / Code: K