A St Albans author who was born in Hungary has published a novel based on her family's story.
Catherine Till's book is titled No Fence Made of Sausages, which is a Hungarian saying similar to the English 'the streets are not paved with gold', and is a reference to one of the novel's themes of emigration.
The novel opens with the main character's attempt to defect from Soviet-dominated Hungary, then follows three generations of one family from the beginning of the 20th century - through wars, revolutions and regime changes - up to the 2015 European migrant crisis.
Catherine, who was born and grew up in Budapest, said: "I wanted to tell the story of people whose lives are buffeted by history as they struggle with their own personal demons - love, betrayal, addiction and wasted talent."
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Author Emma Darwin praised the novel, saying: "A moving, vividly-realised story of lives in the tumult of Europe’s recent history. I loved it."
To learn the craft of writing, Catherine attended City University's Novel Studio course, and wrote No Fence Made of Sausages during the Covid lockdowns.
The book is available to order from Books on the Hill St Albans, Waterstones and all other good bookshops.
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