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Staff Pick
Fever At Dawn

Fever At Dawn

Current price: $14.99
Publication Date: April 18th, 2017
Publisher:
Harper Paperbacks
ISBN:
9780544944411
Pages:
240
Usually Ships in 2 to 5 Days

Staff Reviews

This is not your traditional love story, full of stereotypical characters and overflowing with metaphors & antidotes about love. This story is direct, to the point, but written in a way that lets you know it's dear to the heart of the author. Gárdos carefully crafts the tale of Lili and Miklós: two Hungarian Jews who survived the Holocaust and are now recovering in Swedish hospitals. While sitting in different hospitals, looking to heal both physically and emotionally, Miklós and Lili began their love story by writing letters to one another. This is more than just the typical "boy meets girl" tale; it covers themes of freedom, faith, recovery, loneliness, and uncertainty.



While the flow at times can be difficult to follow (this was originally written in Hungarian), Gárdos does an amazing job translating the emotions of the characters into a relatable story. There is a darkness to the underlying tone, yet the author's intimate knowledge of the characters lets their love shine through. After all, he should know their love story better than anyone -- Miklós and Lili are his parents.

— Miranda

Description

“Fever at Dawn has the sweetness of The Rosie Project and the pathos of The Fault in Our Stars . . . A book to fall in love with.” —  Herald Sun
 
It’s 1945 and Miklós is looking for a wife. The fact that he has six months left to live doesn’t discourage him — he isn’t one to let small problems like that stand in the way, especially not after he’s survived a concentration camp. Currently marooned in an all-male sanatorium in Sweden, and desperate to get out, he acquires the names of the 117 Hungarian women also recovering in Sweden and writes each of them a letter in his beautiful cursive hand. Luckily for him, Lili decides to write back.

Drawn from the real-life letters of Péter Gárdos’s parents, and reminiscent of the film Life Is Beautiful,Fever at Dawn is a vibrant, ribald, and unforgettable tale, showing the death-defying power of the human will to live and to love.
 
“At once heartrending and lighthearted, this romance covers enormous ground in love and war, joy and tragedy.” — Shelf Awareness, starred review
 
“A riveting and high-spirited journey from the brink of death toward life, [Fever at Dawn] asserts the power of love.” — Julie Orringer, author of The Invisible Bridge

About the Author

PÉTER GÁRDOS is an award-winning Hungarian film director. Fever at Dawn is his first novel and is based on the true story of his parents.

Praise for Fever At Dawn

Fever at Dawn has the sweetness of The Rosie Project and the pathos of The Fault in our Stars. Better still, it is based on a true story, that of the author’s parents who found love in the aftermath of the Holocaust and the horrors of World War II….Verdict: a book to fall in love with.” —The Herald Sun    “On the surface Fever at Dawn may seem a harrowing tale of survival and suffering, but in this remarkable book the Holocaust merely provides the backdrop for the most improbable of true-life love stories….There is a timeless quality to Fever at Dawn, a kind of classical romanticism….Gardos’s fascinating novel is sure to become a staple in book clubs.” —The Australian     "Through this charming novel, the remarkable Miklós and Lili are immortalized — their pluck, their determination, their insistence on saying yes to life after so much death."—Minneapolis Star Tribune   “Will make you like life more when you’ve finished.” —The Bookseller (UK)   "At once heartrending and lighthearted, this romance covers enormous ground in love and war, joy and tragedy, humor and pathos. Fever at Dawn, with its historical backdrop, will win over many readers.”—Shelf Awareness, starred review  "A riveting and high-spirited journey from the brink of death toward life, a novel that asserts the power of love in a world newly devastated by unspeakable hate.  With courage, humor, and unfailing emotional honesty, Peter Gardos illuminates the incredible power of the human will—the drive not just to stay alive, but to fight for a life worth celebrating." —Julie Orringer, author of The Invisible Bridge  "Fever at Dawn belongs to the canon of extraordinary true stories about love and war and the power of letters. Dramatic, compassionate and deeply moving, this unforgettable story reminds us that the Holocaust is not only history it’s a warning."—Jennifer Clement, author of Prayers for the Stolen     The impossibly moving story of two damaged youths who forge from their amour fou a love that will light the decades ahead. With playfulness and charm, with iron conviction, Fever at Dawn will convince you that it’s possible not only to survive the worst of human hell, but to transcend it.”—Francisco Goldman, author of Say Her Name     “Books don’t make me cry. Fever At Dawn did. Drawing you in with pathos and playful wit, it squeezes the heart with sorrow and leaves it expanded with joy and love.”—Gabor Maté M.D., author of In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts   “A magnificent novel, tonally flawless, its humor defiant in the face of vast tragedy.”—Joan London, author of Gilgamesh and The Good Parents