Una pareja inglesa de recién casados llega a Bucarest, la llamad Paris del esta, en el otoño de 1939, apenas unas semanas después de la invasión Alemania de Polonia basada en las experiencias de la autora, esta obra dio inicio a su aclamada Trilogía balcánica, por la que pasará a la historia de la literatura inglesa del siglo XX.. ( )

https://lizzysiddal.wordpress.com/2020/07/30/the-great-fortune-olivia-manning/ ( )

Why do we read? For many of us it is to go to other places and other times, and this is a
perfect example.
I am very much reminded of the Alexandria Quartet, eccentric English expatriots in an exotic setting. I have no doubt these people, and their attitudes, really existed. In the 60's I was at Oxford and met a Russian prince who undoubtedly would have behave like poor old Yaco, had he lost all access to funds. Incidentally I see many examples in reviews posted here of readers who are unable to tolerate reading about people and attitudes that are not acceptable today. So is Dickens to be condemned for his clearly prejudiced view of Jews?
A wonderful setting, Romania in the early stages of WWII. The sort of location Alan Furst writes about, but his protagonists are lonely males. Here a domestic drama plays out, a newly wed English couple. The woman, Harriet, flounders in a situation where her husband sympathizes with others more than he does with her. There is obviously a strong autobiographical element here.
And I will rapidly move on to the rest of the trilogy. Such jolly good fun! Or it would be, if Hitler were not looming large. ( )

The year is 1939 and Europe is seething with the threat of war. Germany has just invaded Poland and shows no signs of stopping. At the heart of The Great Fortune is newlyweds Guy and Harriet Pringle. Having just arrived in Bucharest, Harriet is shy and unknowing while her gregarious husband is back on old familiar stomping grounds. As an English professor and lecturer he knows multitudes of friends, students, colleagues, and old lovers alike. Driven by the political and military headlines of the day, The Great Fortune details civilian reactions: the chatter over coffee in cafes, the arguments behind bedroom doors, gossip in the streets. The blasé expatriate community regards the approaching Germans as a trifling that won't affect them.
I am not sure why, but the first book of Manning took me a long time to read. ( )

na pareja inglesa de recién casados, Guy y Harriet Pringle, llega a Bucarest, la llamada París del Este, en el otoño de 1939, apenas unas semanas después de la invasión alemana de Polonia. Los habitantes de esta ciudad llena de contrastes, inmersa en la incertidumbre por la guerra y la inestabilidad política, se aferran a una vibrante vida cotidiana mientras el caos se apodera de Rumanía y del resto de Europa. Entretanto, Harriet empezará a conocer realmente a su marido, un extrovertido profesor universitario que se rodea de un animado círculo social, y tratará de encontrar su lugar dentro de ese peculiar elenco formado por estirados diplomáticos, damas acaudaladas, pícaros seductores y arribistas.