Ilona Gets A Phone
November 2023
Dedalus Books, LTD
It’s 1991. The Iron Curtain has fallen and Ilona Kovács has finally got a phone. The one she’s awaited for decades and took a bottle of palinka to ensure proper installation. Now that she has a phone, Ilona wants more: Her son who defected decades ago. But when Emil returns for a visit, a class of cultures arises.
In the scramble for wealth and power amid the rubble of communism, Ilona unearths secrets and uncovers an episode of Europe’s darkest history that she would rather leave buried. Her conniving ways threaten to alienate Emil, leaving Ilona alone, forever.
Ilona Gets A Phone is a moving and powerful book that explores the longing for success and the disconnect between people who love one another.
ALISON LANGLEY 