Summary of Portraits of a Marriage
“Portraits of a Marriage” by Sándor Márai tells the story of the seemingly perfect marriage between Ilonka and Peter, a wealthy and educated bourgeois couple in Budapest in the 1930s. The marriage unravels when Peter leaves Ilonka for Judit, the poor servant girl he secretly yearned for all his life. The novel is divided into three parts: the first part is Ilonka’s account, shared with a friend in a Budapest pastry shop; the second part is Peter’s perspective, told to a friend in a bar; and the third part is Judit’s story, narrated to her new lover in a hotel room in Rome.
Reasons to read Portraits of a Marriage
“Portraits of a Marriage” is a masterpiece of Hungarian literature and a fascinating psychological study of love, marriage, and betrayal. The novel vividly captures the atmosphere of 1930s Budapest, highlighting the class differences between the three main characters. Sandor Marai is one of the greatest Hungarian writers of the 20th century, though his works were long forgotten. Other notable works by Márai include “Embers”, “The Rebels”, and “Casanova in Bolzano”. His novels are reminiscent of the writings of Joseph Roth, Leo Perutz, and Bruno Schulz.
Setting: Budapest (Hungary)
Original title: Az igazi
Republished as “Judit… és az utóhang” in 1980
Year of publication: 1941
Nr of pages: 384
