Set in a Hungarian estate on the edge of the Carpathian Mountains,
this "lucid and crisp" memoir is a clear-eyed elegy to a country--and a
marriage--torn apart by World War II (The New Yorker)
Best known for her classic book Green Thoughts: A Writer in the
Garden, Eleanor Perényi led a worldly life before settling down in
Connecticut. More Was Lost is a memoir of her youth abroad, written in
the early days of World War II, after her return to the United States.
In 1937, at the age of nineteen, Perényi falls in love with a poor
Hungarian baron and in short order acquires both a title and a
struggling country estate at the edge of the Carpathians. She throws
herself into this life with zeal, learning Hungarian and observing the
invisible order of the Czech rule, the resentment of the native
Ruthenians, and the haughtiness of the dispossessed Hungarians. In the
midst of massive political upheaval, Perényi and her husband remain
steadfast in their dedication to their new life, an alliance that will
soon be tested by the war. With old-fashioned frankness and wit, Perényi
recounts this poignant tale of how much was gained and how much more was
lost.