Book 3: Leányregény by Polcz Alaine

This novel of Polcz Alaine is set in the 1960'-1970's when the protagonist spends her summer  by the Black Sea. Although she knows the larger area (Romania and Transylvania) fairly much, as this is where she grew up, this is where she spent most of her childhood, still, this trip brings her so many novelties as if she had travelled to a completely unknown place. 

At first blink Leányregény might seem to be a plain and simple travelouge, but, just like in all the other works of Polcz, there is more to that, for there is a lot going on under the surface and behind the facts. She does not simply states what she saw and what happened to her during the months she spent by the Black Sea, but she tell stories, introduces characters whom not only she befriended but, by the end of the novel the readers too, for they will feel that these somewhat peculiar and complex characters slowly became their aquaintances as well, or even good friends. 

Moreover, she often writes about the everyday lives of  ordinary people who lived in the socialist decades of 60's and 70's, especially of those who worked in tourism, eg., tourist guides, waiters, waitresses, hotel managers, etc. The reader gets to learn about the seemingly tiny details of everyday lives that defined that particular political era which now feels far far away and seems completely different on so many levels from how we life nowadays; however, it it also alike on so many  other levels, if you really think about it. This is how Leányregény could also be a timetravel of some sort on the one hand, and a contemporary portrait of our society on the other.