At an end-of-the London season soiree, the young Hungarian
scholar-dilettante Janos Batky is introduced to the Earl of Gwynedd, a
reclusive eccentric who is the subject of strange rumours. Invited to
the family seat, Pendragon Castle in North Wales, Batky receives a
mysterious phone-call warning him not to go... Antal Szerb's first novel
The Pendragon Legend (1934), set in Wales is a gently satirical blend of
gothic and romantic genres, crossed with the murder mystery format to
produce a fast-moving and often hilarious romp. But beneath the surface,
the reader becomes aware of a steely intelligence probing moral,
psychological and religious questions.