By Magda Szabó (1917–2007), from Katalin Street, a novel that was published this month by New York Review Books. Szabó was the author of The Door and the recipient of numerous literary awards. Translated from the Hungarian by Len Rix.

Even as a child it never ceased to astonish me how little either of my parents understood me. My hard work, my desire to get on, my strict sense of duty, and my self-discipline meant to them merely that I was a success, that I was perfect, the one child whom they could hold up as their achievement, both…