Journalist Kati Marton Launches Book in Budapest

The book, translated by Dániel Bart, has been published by Corvina Kiadó with the title A Kilenc magyar, aki világgá ment és megváltoztatta a világot, which translates directly as "The Nine Hungarians Who Went Out Into The World and Changed The World". The book's title was changed for marketing reasons.

 

Marton, who fled Hungary as a small girl with her parents and settled in the US, said she originally had wanted to write a book about Budapest, but in the course of research the nine names continued to resurface, leading her to rework the concept of the book. The fate of the nine Hungarian Jews are woven together, which enforces the coherency of the text, she said, adding that the book is not a dry collection of biographies, but is intended to be read as a novel.

 

Photo by MTI

László Rajk praised Marton for her writing in such prestigious publications as The New Yorker, The Times of London, The Washington Post and Newsweek, as well as for her previous book Hidden Power: Presidential Marriages That Shaped Our History, which made it to the New York Times bestseller list. Marton sits on the boards of the International Women's Health Coalition, Human Rights Watch, the International Rescue Committee and the Council on Foreign Relations.

 

Marton's husband Richard Holbrooke, the well known US diplomat, accompanied Marton at the event.