Valeria’s Last Stand

Travel Guide

Travel your way BookTrail style through Hungary’s pottery world

The village inthe book is located somewhere in the Hungarian puszta –  an exclave of the Eurasian Steppe. It covers a total area of around 50,000 km2 (20,000 sq mi) and has changed over the years so that is exists now in only a few places  – for example in Hortobágy National Park.

Pottery in Hungary

Valeria finds herself suddenly dressing in florals and touching her hair, and what’s more, smiling at people in the street. The potter makes her the most beautiful vase she has ever seen. The farmers buy a celebratory round. The problem with all this is that Ibolya (herself at least fifty-eight) has been romancing the potter for months and vows to win him back. And then there’s Ferenc, the sugar beet farmer, red-headed and married but all the same hopelessly in love with Ibolya. Meanwhile the mayor has his own problems, mostly involving foreign investors and a non-existent railway. And then a roving chimney sweep arrives in the village, to make a quick buck and bring some good luck – or perhaps bad luck; no one can really decide. All anyone knows is, there’s never been such a hullabaloo, which just goes to show it’s never too late to try something new.