Bishop Matula Academy, Autumn 1943 - March 1944

Most of the novel takes place at the Bishop Matula Academy, a fictional Calvinist all-girls’ school in the provincial Hungarian city of Árkod. Gina, her classmates and the staff of the school all live on the campus, where they are subject to draconian rules, constant supervision and censorship but also find ways to squeeze pleasure and joy out of this harsh environment. Szabó characterizes the Matula as a fortress, with bars on the windows and entrance, and Gina eventually comes to see the school as both a prison and refuge, as the staff reveal themselves to be more complex and compassionate than they appear to be. Abigail, the eponymous ‘character’ of the novel, is a classical statue in the garden of the Matula, whom the students turn to in times of need. As the war outside the walls of the Matula affects Gina...