Traveler and the Moonlight

Special 70th Anniversary American Edition
A new translation by writer and poet Peter Hargitai

Writer and poet Peter Hargitai, working on an English translation of Utas s holdvilg [Traveler and the Moonlight] in 1988, met with Szerbs widow, Klra, curious to know whether there had been real-life models for the novels charactersparticularly for Tams and va, who intrigued him above all the others. In answer, Klra Szerb pointed out a framed photograph on a bookshelf: a youngish man with a pale, aristocratic, melancholy face.

This is Tams, Mrs. Szerb said. My husbands beloved schoolmate.

And va? Who is va? I asked.

She held up that very picture. This is also va. Tams and va are one and the same.

Klra Szerb went on to insist that Hargitai keep the secret of Tams and vas single biographical precedent until after her death. And there we have a clue, not only to the mysterious androgyny of Tams and va, and to the sexually unconventional nature of Mihlys relationship with them, but also perhaps to an unresolved chapter from Szerbs past, one that held mysteries potent enough to give rise to a novel.

Julie Orringer

Author of The Invisible Bridge

I hope The Traveler reaches thousands and thousands of readers.

Elie Wiesel

Distinguished Nobel Laureate