Nelio Biedermann: Lázár - Reading and Conversation

Everything begins, even the end, when Lajos von Lázár, the blonde child with water-blue eyes, is born. His father, the Baron, will never feel at ease with his son, as if he senses his secret. With Lajos' birth in the forest castle, the 20th century also dawns, forever changing the old life of the Lázár barons in southern Hungary. The downfall of the Habsburg Empire only touches their traditions at first, but everyone feels the tremors of time, as does the beautiful Mária and the ghostly Uncle Imre. When Lajos takes on his inheritance in the 1920s, the old splendor seems to bloom once more. Yet the children Eva and Pista – who loves the dark so much – must experience how totalitarian times cast their heavy shadows and learn to withstand them. A novel like a world, the overwhelming saga of a family driven by love and the longing for it, in the whirlpools of the 20th century. Gripping and touching, yet full of lightness, dreams, and secrets, reflecting the entire tragedy and beauty of existence. And – whether in the face of historical catastrophes or beautiful summer days – the eternal question of how to live. Nelio Biedermann, born in 2003, grew up by Lake Zurich. His family on his father's side comes from Hungarian nobility; his grandparents fled to Switzerland in the 1950s. Biedermann is studying German literature and film studies at the University of Zurich. His novel "Lázár" will be published in more than twenty countries.