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The White King, by György Dragomán

By Tannaz Allaway on Monday 21 January 2008

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The White King

A stunning boyhood novel about freedom and corruption

(Hardback, £12.99, Doubleday)

Eleven-year-old Djata is growing up in eastern Europe under a communist regime. Times are hard – all the more since Djata’s father was taken away to a re-education camp a year ago, leaving the young boy and his mother helpless as old acquaintances form a safe distance and the authorities move uncomfortably close.

As Djata navigates his way through school, where teachers are brutal and even sports events are riddled with party corruption, he clings to the hope that his father is still alive. Meanwhile he battles on towards adolescence, from getting involved in childish – and bloody – war games, to stealing hundreds of tulips from the park (a gift for his lonely mother on her wedding anniversary).

Through a sequence of vaguely connected episodes of boyhood, Dragoman’s award-winning second novel (and his first to be published in English) blends humour, innocence and terror to create a stunning work that touchingly reflects on freedom and corruption.

* * * * *

Review by Tannaz Allaway

Release date: Monday 21 January 2008