Strangers in Budapest

I read Strangers in Budapest because I recently visited that city and I was curious about depictions of it in fiction. I loved how the author shows us the city through the eyes of the protagonist, rather than just delivering a travelogue, and it was fun to see these places in print, although how they existed 30 years before I saw them in person. I also find the experience of expats to be intriguing; during the time period of this novel, I had been living for several years in Asia.

The story revolves around a young mother who moves to Budapest with her husband who is exploring business opportunities in the years following the fall of Communism in Hungary. It was a heady time there, but also very challenging, and full of potential dangers. It's no wonder that the protagonist is somewhat neurotic, questioning everything that happens. It's a relatively fast-paced book, including some plot twists that make it quite interesting.