The Angel Makers

Sep 26, 2011 Mara rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011, historical-fiction

The Angel Makers is based on the true story of The Angel Makers of Nagyrév, a village in Hungary where women systematically poisoned abusive or war-injured husbands and other family members with arsenic between 1914 and 1929. Between 45 and 50 people were killed. Twenty-six women were tried, twelve were imprisoned, and two were executed.

The story begins just before World War I, when Sari is fourteen and has already been promised to Ferenc when she turned eighteen. The war abruptly changes their...more The Angel Makers is based on the true story of The Angel Makers of Nagyrév, a village in Hungary where women systematically poisoned abusive or war-injured husbands and other family members with arsenic between 1914 and 1929. Between 45 and 50 people were killed. Twenty-six women were tried, twelve were imprisoned, and two were executed.

The story begins just before World War I, when Sari is fourteen and has already been promised to Ferenc when she turned eighteen. The war abruptly changes their path when Ferenc is pushed onto the front and Sari is left an orphan living in the home of the local wise woman, Judit. Most of the men, many who were abusive, are gone from the village entirely, leaving women to run the show and toss off their previous cowed personalities.

Enter the POW camp. With little restrictions, the Italian POWs begin affairs with the women in the village. Sari, now eighteen and trying to be virtuous, finds herself pairing up with Marco, caring less and less about Ferenc, who eventually comes back with little sanity and lots of problems. Things don't end well, leaving Sari few options when Ferenc completely loses his mind. Murder is pretty tempting, and poisoning is the only clean way to do it.

Thus begins the murder spree. Admittedly, I had hoped the book would explore the murders more than it spends time on Sari's hopeless relationship with Marco and the new freedoms of the village without the burden of abusive relationships. The book pins most of the blame on one rather calculating woman who sees Sari's desperate act as a way to shed all her responsibilities to family (non-abusive husband, mother-in-law, mother, child...who needs them!), blazing the way straight to group serial murder while keeping Sari and Judit in the arsenic making business by blackmail. It does not do an adequate job of getting to the heart of why so many people choose to murder their family members, abusive husbands aside. Sari's ending is also quite convenient, and incredibly rushed. However, I liked the book as a whole. The writing was incredibly moving and in many places very bold. (less)

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Mar 09, 2013 Ricki Treleaven rated it 4 of 5 stars

This week I read The Angel Makers by Jessica Gregson. The novel is based on a true story, and it is one of the most chilling historical stories I have ever read (not involving an oppressive government). If you are interested, google The Angelmakers of Nagyrev for more information.

The story begins in 1914, shortly before the beginning of World War I, in the tiny, remote Hungarian village of Faluscka. Fourteen year old Sari Arany's father, Jan, is a taltos, or wise man. He is very well-respecteed...more This week I read The Angel Makers by Jessica Gregson. The novel is based on a true story, and it is one of the most chilling historical stories I have ever read (not involving an oppressive government). If you are interested, google The Angelmakers of Nagyrev for more information.

The story begins in 1914, shortly before the beginning of World War I, in the tiny, remote Hungarian village of Faluscka. Fourteen year old Sari Arany's father, Jan, is a taltos, or wise man. He is very well-respecteed in their village, but not Sari. Wise women tend to be feared, and since her mother died during Sari's childbirth, rumors have surrounded Sari her whole life. Sari has been promised to Ferenc, the eighteen year old heir from the wealthiest family in the village. That was the custom in Hungary at the time: Girls' parents chose their husbands for them. Before Jan dies suddenly from a heart issue, Sari promises him that she will wait until she is eighteen before marrying Ferenc. World War I intervenes before Ferenc can persuade Sari to break her father's promise, and he goes off to fight. Sari does not live in her father's old house because it would not be proper, so she moves in with Judit, the village's midwife and rumored to be a witch.

About two years into the war, the army commandeered Ferenc's family's estate to use as a prisoner of war camp. The army holds many Italian prisoners there, and the army gives them far more freedom than is seemly. By this time, the women of the village have become accustomed to making their own way and not answering to overbearing, sometimes abusive, husbands. Many of the women have affairs with the prisoners, and many of the women are not happy when the war ends.

Sari has a relationship with an Italian named Marco. He was a history professor before the war, and Sari befriends him initially because she has a true love for learning. As Sari's services as a nurse are needed at the prison, Sari has the opportunity to meet with Marco, and their relationship deepens. At the end of the war, Ferenc comes home, and he is not the same young man he was before the war. He is abusive and cruel to Sari, and he forces her hand. She decides to kill him with arsenic to protect something precious to her, and her actions start a series of events that spiral crazily out of control.

I enjoyed The Angel Makers overall, but I must warn you that Gregson drops tons of f-bombs, and she is overly fond of the word discomfited. When writers overuse words, it is a distraction to me. I also found it difficult to sympathize with Sari in spite of the book's theme of choices and feminine empowerment. Still, Gregson's plot moves steadily along, and I could not put the book down. I read it in two days even with my very busy schedule this week.
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Aug 27, 2012 NyiNya rated it 5 of 5 stars

When WWI called the men away from their Hungarian village of Nagyar, their wives wept and wished them a speedy return.

Until they noticed something unusual.

With the men gone, life was a whole lot better. One by one, each wife experienced the same epiphany: Nobody was spending the family's scant savings on booze, getting drunk and beating the daylights out of her. And what's more, the ladies realized that men weren't all that necessary. They were managing the farms pretty darn well themselves. Sur...more When WWI called the men away from their Hungarian village of Nagyar, their wives wept and wished them a speedy return.

Until they noticed something unusual.

With the men gone, life was a whole lot better. One by one, each wife experienced the same epiphany: Nobody was spending the family's scant savings on booze, getting drunk and beating the daylights out of her. And what's more, the ladies realized that men weren't all that necessary. They were managing the farms pretty darn well themselves. Sure they still had to work in the fields, but without having to cook hubby's meals, sew and mend and wash his clothes, dodge his fists, keep the kids out of his way--and all with another one of his babies in her belly--things were a whole lot easier!

And then things got even better. The Austrian army dropped off some Italian prisoners of war to help the ladies with their farmwork. Do the heavy lifting, as it were. And indeed they did. And thensome. Polite, attentive, even romantic, the eager POWS were a new species of male, one the ladies of Nagyar had never before encountered...and one they found altogether acceptable. Altogether.

But as with all good things, this new happy chapter came to an end when The Boys Came Marching Home. No more Love Italian Style. It was back to watching hubby eat first before she and the kids got a mouthful, back to loose teeth and black eyes, and back to slam bam without the thank you ma'am.

Things looked bleak indeed. Until late one night when one of the ladies sits down to consider her miserable future and notices that arsenic-laced strip of fly paper swinging from the lamp overhead. She comes up with A Very Interesting Idea. One she gladly shared with her friends. Pretty soon life started looking good again. Except maybe there were more flies around than usual.

Then wouldn't you know it, somebody went and spilled the beans and the authorities started poking their noses into Nagyar business.

Based on actual events that transpired in a Hungarian village, this is a fascinating little book. It's a fast, almost compulsive read that combines humor and shock value in one seamless stream. The characters are depicted in sharp relief, beautifully crafted so their individual personalities give us memorable portraits. And the plot...it's a pip. We get so caught up in the ladies' innovative solution to marital discord, it begins to seem perfectly logical and we resent the long arm of the law reaching in and stirring things up.

Incidentally, good ideas don't die. The Women of Nagyar were not the first or the last group of unhappy women to make use of this fast and easy alternative to group divorce. A quick internet search shows that misandry and murder syndicates are evergreen throughout history. In 1658, an ambitious bunch of Roman housewives took out 100 pesky husbands and nosy neighbors. In 1868, Marseiles pharmacist/herbalist named Joye Monsier helped quite a few desperate housewives disencumber themselves without waiting for a decree nisi. In 1925, one Madame Popova of the Ukraine helped 300 abused wives find solace. 1926 saw the opening of Yugoslavia's "Lucretia Club," whose members shared information about husband-murdering techniques and knitting patterns. The list goes on and on. But for some reason, Hungary holds the record. Since 1900, the country has led the field, claiming around 60 of the 100 most notorious cases of mass husband killing. Can't afford a lawyer? Afraid hubby will object to your leaving...in an objectionable way? No problem. The solution is as easy as...pie. Once you've given the recipe a little reboot.

The temptation to play Dixie Chicks' "Earl Must Die" while reading this book is almost insurmountable. Just don't do it if you also leave the book where your husband or sweetie can see it. Next time you and your girlfriends are sitting in the kitchen, laughing and gossiping, poor baby is going to be in the den hyperventilating and afraid to finish dessert. Especially if you asked him to pick up one of those Shell No Pest Strips on the way home.

On the other hand, he may start sending you flowers. Frequently. And for no reason. I'm just saying. (less)

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Aug 14, 2012 Cindy C Curry rated it 3 of 5 stars

Sari, the protagonist, was a believable character who learned about the use of herbs from her father and the town's midwife. The story is set in a small Hungarian village during World War I. The men go off to war and the women are left to run the village. Italian prisoners-of-war arrive and live in Sari's fiance's family's home; the women of the town begin to visit the men and soon many are in relationships including Sari. The war ends and the men begin to arrive home. The women are saddened by...more Sari, the protagonist, was a believable character who learned about the use of herbs from her father and the town's midwife. The story is set in a small Hungarian village during World War I. The men go off to war and the women are left to run the village. Italian prisoners-of-war arrive and live in Sari's fiance's family's home; the women of the town begin to visit the men and soon many are in relationships including Sari. The war ends and the men begin to arrive home. The women are saddened by the departure of the Italians and the arrival of their brooding husbands. The story was loosely based on an incident which took place in Hungary.

Some research I found noted the following:"Fazekas was a middle-aged midwife who arrived in Nagyrév in 1911, with her husband already missing without explanation. Between 1911 and 1921 she was imprisoned 10 times for performing illegal abortions, but was consistently acquitted by judges supporting abortion.

In Hungarian society at that time, the future husband of a teenage bride was selected by her family and she was forced to accept her parents' choice. Divorce was not allowed socially, even if the husband was an alcoholic or abusive. During World War I, when able-bodied men were sent to fight for Austria-Hungary, rural Nagyrév was an ideal location for holding Allied prisoners of war. With the limited freedom of POWs about the village, the women living there often had one or more foreign lovers while their husbands were away. When the men returned, many of them rejected their wives' affairs and wished to return to their previous way of life, creating a volatile situation. At this time Fazekas began secretly persuading women who wished to escape this situation to poison their husbands using arsenic made by boiling flypaper and skimming off the lethal residue.

After the initial killing of their husbands, some of the women went on to poison parents who had become a burden to them, or to get hold of their inheritance. Others poisoned their lovers, some even their sons; as the midwife allegedly told the poisoners, "Why put up with them?".

The first poisoning in Nagyrév took place in 1911; it was not the work of Fazekas. The deaths of other husbands, children, and family members soon followed. The poisoning became a fad, and by the mid 1920s, Nagyrév earned the nickname "the murder district." There were an estimated 45-50 murders over the 18 years that Fazekas lived in the district. She was the closest thing to a doctor the village had and her cousin was the clerk who filed all the death certificates, allowing the murders to go undetected."

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May 16, 2012 Garryvivianne rated it 5 of 5 stars

What an excellent book! I did not want to finish it, as I didn't want it to end. I was not sure how the ending would be, but it was EXCELLENT!

A young girl in a small village is kind of an outcast among the villagers. Her father had taught her about herbs & healing. He dies & she is pretty much on her own. An old lady who also dabbles with the herbs takes her under her wing & helps her grow & help her with her healing & birthing chores, taking care of the villagers.

Pretty so...more What an excellent book! I did not want to finish it, as I didn't want it to end. I was not sure how the ending would be, but it was EXCELLENT!

A young girl in a small village is kind of an outcast among the villagers. Her father had taught her about herbs & healing. He dies & she is pretty much on her own. An old lady who also dabbles with the herbs takes her under her wing & helps her grow & help her with her healing & birthing chores, taking care of the villagers.

Pretty soon, the war starts, & most all the men are gone. The women seem to rejoice in this & feel so free. Some prisoners of war, Italian men, are housed by the village. They ask if women want to go help them, to cook & clean & do other small chores for the men, & they are offered food as payment. Pretty soon, the women start getting happy, having men around. Some of the men from the actual village were known to beat & berate their wives. Some affairs are out in the open & nobody seems to care, the women are happy for each other.

When the men start coming back, either maimed, or sick or not "all there", the women grow unhappy. When the young girl's fiance comes back, he is different. And he is upset because he figures that the women have not been faithful. He starts to be mean to her. This leads to his beating her numerous times. She goes to her old friend for help. Together they devise a plan. Then their plan works,... everybody is happy.....or are they? Who knows what they have done?....Pretty soon, other women come for their "help". Things get somewhat out of hand, alot of village men have died, what is happening? An investigation from another village gets to the bottom of this.

I am so glad that this book ended the way it did. I am glad for the main character. All the characters in this book were well written of. You knew them, you felt their happiness, their hurt, their frustrations. Yeah Sari, I wanted to cheer for her! VERY well written. AND actually based on a TRUE story!!! Good story. (less)

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Mar 19, 2012 Margo Tanenbaum rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: adult, world-war-i

Set in a small Hungarian village around World War I, this "can't put it down" adult historical fiction novel centers around a teenaged girl, Sari, who's orphaned and left in the care of the elderly village midwife and herbalist. Sari is "different," and that's enough to make her disliked and feared by almost everyone in the village, except her fiance, Ferenc. But when World War I breaks out and most of the young men in the village leave for the front, Sari becomes closer to the other women in th...more Set in a small Hungarian village around World War I, this "can't put it down" adult historical fiction novel centers around a teenaged girl, Sari, who's orphaned and left in the care of the elderly village midwife and herbalist. Sari is "different," and that's enough to make her disliked and feared by almost everyone in the village, except her fiance, Ferenc. But when World War I breaks out and most of the young men in the village leave for the front, Sari becomes closer to the other women in the village, who begin to include her in their gossip and rituals. Most of the women seem content to be temporarily rid of their brutish boyfriends and husbands, and when a prisoner-of-war camp for Italian officers is set up nearby, they are only too happy to find excuses to work at the camp, leading inevitably to flirting and affairs between the local women and the officers, despite the language gap.

Even Sari is not immune to the Italians' charms, and soon is involved in a passionate affair with an Italian professor who stimulates her mind as well as her senses. When the local men begin to return at the end of the war, including Sari's fiance, Ferenc, the Hungarian men's suspicions are aroused, and violence ensues. Sari fears for her life, but ever resourceful, she comes up with a clever and devious plan to get rid of Ferenc. It's not long before other women in the village want her help to rid themselves of their own husbands. Will the village women get away with their sinister plans?

Amazingly, this novel is based on a true story the author discovered in a "true crime" book. I found the story riveting, as did my teenage daughter. I think teenage girls will be drawn to the teenaged protagonist, as well as to the love, passion, and crime central to the story. It's a tale that's hard to forget, somehow mixing elements of fairy tale (the witch-like girl in the small village) and a more contemporary-feeling revenge story in a satisfying blend that will keep you up at night thinking about it. I'm wondering if it's been optioned for the movies--I could definitely see it as a great thriller!(less)

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Mar 12, 2012 Danny rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: library-book

Sari didn't set out to be a murderer. But it turned out to be the only way. No, not the only way. There is always a choice, she would tell you. She chose to be a murderer. That just wasn't the plan at the beginning.

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When the men of a Hungarian village leave to fight in World War I, their wives and girlfriends are left behind to cope with the absence. The days don't seem to be that much different until a group of Italian POWs are housed near the village. Now the women to go the makeshift...more

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Jan 02, 2012 Amy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Some of my favorite books are novels that are based upon true events or actual people, so I am always drawn to book blurbs that say they are based upon a true story. The Angel Makers by Jessica Gregson is a page turning, thoroughly engrossing read that is inspired by actual events. Set in Hungary just before the First World War, The Angel Makers tells the story of Sari, a young orphaned girl that is often ostracized by the other villagers. Unusual to begin with Sari lives with the old crone midw...more

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Aug 08, 2011 Emma rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A really engrossing narrative, I couldn't put this book down. This is essentially the story of the women of an isolated Hungarian village around the time of the First World War, and the effect that the war, and the arrival of an Italian POW camp, has on their way of life. The story centres on Sari, an outcast from the village because of her reputation as a witch, until the outbreak of war when her medical skills become needed and respected. However, following the end of the war, her medical skil...more

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Mar 01, 2012 Laurie rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Mendy, Sharon and Kelly

Shelves: ebooks

I could not put this one down. The novel centers around a small village in Hungary in pre-World War 1 and the bonds formed by the wives who are left behind when the husbands are called off to War. On the surface it reminded me of how military wives bond and help one another during deployments but it stopped there, lol. However, nothing can compare to the hardships and abuses these women endured during this time period when myths and superstitions were rampant and how women were treated in that t...more

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May 10, 2012 Anne rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2012

When I begin a book I rarely read the reviews or the jacket copy because I want to enter the book with a clean slate and form my own impressions and uncover plot details at my own pace. As I started reading I thought I wasn't going to like the book. It seemed sluggish and the storyline wasn't initially clear. However as I kept turning the pages I began to completely fall under the spell of Sari's personality and the skills that she and Judit practiced as midwives and herbalists.

Ferenc wasn't an...more

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Dec 13, 2011 Cindi rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011

Review originally posted on my blog : http://utahmomslife.blogspot.com/2011...

Sari is a young apprentice to the local midwife in an isolated Hungarian village when the men, including her fiance, are called away to fight in World War I. For most of the women, who have arranged marriages, having their husbands away is a relief. Before long many of the women, including Sari, begin relationships with the Italian prisoners that are kept at a nearby POW camp. But the war ends and the consequences must...more

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Mar 19, 2012 RNOCEAN rated it 4 of 5 stars

When the men of a remote Hungarian village go off to war in 1916, the women left behind realize their lives are much better without them. Suddenly, they are not being beaten; they have time for friendships; they even find romance with the injured Italian soldiers staying just outside of town.

For Sari, an intelligent girl who's always been an outcast (her fellow villagers suspect her of being a witch because of her medical knowledge), it's the first time in her life she's had friends. When the m...more

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Mar 04, 2012 JoLene rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: hf, ch12-hist-fictionistas, kindle, read-2012

3.5 stars
This is a story set in a small isolated town in Hungary and about the impact of WWI on the town's women. This is based on a true story. There is a lot to like about this book. The sense of place is very strong. This village is very isolated and the residents are quite poor. Life is not easy for the villagers, but once the men go off to war, the women find that life is considerably better. It gets better still when one of the farms is taken over and used as a prisoner of war camp. Many o...more 3.5 stars
This is a story set in a small isolated town in Hungary and about the impact of WWI on the town's women. This is based on a true story. There is a lot to like about this book. The sense of place is very strong. This village is very isolated and the residents are quite poor. Life is not easy for the villagers, but once the men go off to war, the women find that life is considerably better. It gets better still when one of the farms is taken over and used as a prisoner of war camp. Many of the woman now find that Italian men treat woman much nicer than Hungarian men. Once the war is over and the husbands come back, the women are not satisfied to return to the live prior to the war and take matters into their own hands.

Most of the story is told from the perspective of Sari, whose mother died in childbirth and her father was the village taltos (like a shaman). At the opening of the novel, Sari is an awkward teen who doesn't have any friends and is rumored to be a witch. However, prior to her father's death, he has arranged her engagement to Frenec who is the son of the richest couple in town. After her father's death, Sari lives with the town midwife, Judit and they are the "gotos" for the town's women during the war. Sari makes friends with several women and also makes a special friend with Marco, an italian man who is a professor. At first, Sari is just attracted to Marco's education and wants him to teach her things, but over time it does turn into a physical relationship.

It was interesting how the author is able to create a sympathetic characters who happen to kill their husbands. You are willing to forgive given the motive, but when the other village women begin to do the same thing, without as good of motive, you dislike them. It shows that there is a very fine line when it comes to our moral judgements.

Near the end of the book, the story jumps forward several years in small chapters and in the final section the main voice changes to a detective who is looking into the large number of deaths in the small village. The initial story of the misfit Sari who is thought to be a witch seemed a bit superfluous to the rest of the story. Also, I did not care for the ending. A word of warning: the author drops the f-bomb several times which doesn't seem like a word that would be used in a peasant village at the beginning of the century. Also, there are hungarian words thrown in without explanation -- although most of the time, you can tell their meaning from the context.(less)

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Nov 03, 2011 Tara Chevrestt rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: arc, vine, historical-fiction, world-war-1

They say the road to Hell is paved with good intentions.. and having read this which is based on a true story, I'd say they may be right.

It's a novel about the abuse of power and how what can be a good thing in one's hands can become something else, something evil in another's.

Sari is a teenager branded as a slight "witch" because she has the power to use herbs and such to help with wounds, illness, and pregnancies. She feels ostracized by her little town and so when the wealthiest boy agrees t...more They say the road to Hell is paved with good intentions.. and having read this which is based on a true story, I'd say they may be right.

It's a novel about the abuse of power and how what can be a good thing in one's hands can become something else, something evil in another's.

Sari is a teenager branded as a slight "witch" because she has the power to use herbs and such to help with wounds, illness, and pregnancies. She feels ostracized by her little town and so when the wealthiest boy agrees to marry her when she becomes a certain age, she feels lucky. But he goes to war first, WW1 to be exact and while the men are gone from this small town, the women go a little stir crazy and trouble brews when some Italian POWs show up. You get the picture.. Eventually the women get used to men being gone, even Sari.

Marco, a handsome Italian POW makes Sari start to think about some things. "..you're happy for people just to tolerate you because of the person you've married?" Does she want to be liked for simply being Ferenc's wife when he comes back? Does the town respect her for her or just because of Ferenc? She's left little time to ponder because Ferenc does come back and he's not the same man. None of the men are the same. Every man is changed by the war.. wounded.. afflicted with nightmares.. And the women don't like them, have gotten used to not having them around.. prefer it even..

But some are downright abusive and what starts as good intentions.. kill this man, save a baby.. kill this man, save a woman.. ends up being greatly abused and Sari realizes the town never respected her at all and they may just try to blame her for it all.

Extremely well written, suspenseful at some parts, shocking in others. Lots of things happened that I didn't foresee. I couldn't predict this one at all. I could also see from "both sides of the fence" in this one. I didn't like what some of the characters did at times, but I could also understand. It takes a skilled writer to pull this off. I also enjoyed the conflicting emotions that Sari had about what she was doing at different parts of the story.

Love, sex, intrigue, murder, war.. this book has it all.

Favorite quote: (Judit's views on religion)"I have no respect for anything that only wants to stop people from doing things."(less)

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Jun 04, 2012 Holly rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: book-club, adult-fiction

I finished this just in time to go to book club! I didn't think I liked this story until about halfway through, when things started to get VERY interesting! Sari Arany, the main character, is fourteen when the novel starts. She is an orphan in a rural Hungarian village and lives with an herbalist, Judit, who the town suspects is a witch. When WWI begins, the men start leaving the village, including Sari's betrothed, Ferenc. While the men are gone, a POW camp is set up, and some of the women star...more

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Feb 12, 2012 loretta rated it 3 of 5 stars

Recommended to loretta by: read a review

This was a strange book, interesting but strange. I would rate it 3 1/2 stars but am unable to do it on the rating scale here. It says the novel is based on a true story and I would like to know the circumstances but the author does not elaborate.

The story is centered on Sari, a 14 year old hungarian peasant from a small village just prior to the start of WW1. Sari has always been considered strange by others in her village because she is aloof and because her well-liked mother died giving birth...more

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Jan 10, 2012 Amanda rated it 4 of 5 stars

I won this book from Goodreads. I was intrigued by the story line and decided to enter the giveaway. In short, this book is loosely based on the true story of a WWI era Hungarian Village. When the war breaks out and the men of the village leave to fight, the women of the village discover new freedoms with their oppressive husbands away. Affairs break out with nearby POW's, new friendships forms amongst the women, and life is more carefree.... and then the war is over and the men return. Many don...more

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Jan 06, 2010 Nicholas Whyte added it · review of another edition

"http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1297381.html[return][return]If I hadn't somehow come across its author here on livejournal, I might not have picked up The Angel Makers, and that would have been a shame: this is a gripping narrative of a Hungarian village during and after the first world war, whose women resort to murdering their husbands when they return from the army. Almost all the action takes place in the village, stifled and trapped by the monotony of the Pannonian Plain - I saw one review w...more

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Sep 02, 2011 Jean-Paul Adriaansen rated it 4 of 5 stars

In a little desolate village somewhere deep in the immense Hungarian plain, women live a harsh existence under the thumb of the dominant and often abusive men. Although she is intelligent and the coming-of-age daughter of a well respected wise man, Sarah is considered a bit odd and therefore is more or less avoided by the villagers.
This all changes when WW I breaks out. Nearly all the men leave the village and the women enjoy a freedom they never knew before. This joy gets even bigger when a POW...more

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Jan 15, 2012 Jamie Hughes rated it 3 of 5 stars

According to the information I read before I selected this book, it is based partially on fact. Apparently, there actually was a village in Hungary where a midwife not only provided arsenic to kill abusive husbands but also sons, mothers-in-law, and anyone else who got in the way of a woman's will. The "true story" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ange... of_Nagyr%C3%A9v) is much more straightforward than the novel, which has a cast of colorful characters and a very sympathetic protagonist.

The...more

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Dec 07, 2011 Sandie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011-books, historical-fiction

The Angel Makers relates a partially fictionalized account of actual events that occurred in a Hungarian village during and after WW1. Focusing primarily on the lives of two specific women in the village, Sari Arany and Aunt Judit, author Jessica Gregson, recaptures the age old story of life, death and the struggle between the sexes focusing on the domestic battles that the women of the village have been subjected to.

Due to the lack of any medical professional, Sari and Aunt Judit have functione...more The Angel Makers relates a partially fictionalized account of actual events that occurred in a Hungarian village during and after WW1. Focusing primarily on the lives of two specific women in the village, Sari Arany and Aunt Judit, author Jessica Gregson, recaptures the age old story of life, death and the struggle between the sexes focusing on the domestic battles that the women of the village have been subjected to.

Due to the lack of any medical professional, Sari and Aunt Judit have functioned as the town healers administering to the needs of the locals as well as to the residents at a local facility housing P.O.W.'s. When the war ends and the men of the town return, the women of the town, having survived the War and become used to their independence are unwilling to once again be subjected to the oppression, drunkenness, or laziness of their husbands and enlist the help of the two "healers" in disposing of their unwanted mates. The method they utilize to achieve their ends involves the use of arsenic made by boiling flypaper, skimming off the lethal residue, reducing it to a powder and liberally adding the concoction to their victims food. After initially disposing of unwanted spouses, some continued their "family cleansing" by poisoning other family members who had either become a burden or who had considerable property or valuables that could be inherited. The practice went undetected for many years until someone noticed a suspiciously high number of deaths in this particular village and that the remaining residents were, for the most part, female.

One last thing.....there is one particular four letter word which appears about a half dozen times in the narrative which some readers may find offensive. I will admit that other less jarring words could have been substituted, however that small criticism aside the book itself is well written, suspenseful and extremely informative........and not just for the historical aspects of the story. I would venture to say that the author may have contributed to an increase in the sale of flypaper at your local Home Depot and that spouses should beware of mates who suddenly take an unexpected interest in the culinary arts. 3 1/2 stars
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Nov 26, 2011 Cindy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is a great read. It's an historical account of a small Hungarian village that undergoes some interesting changes over the years. Sari Arany is an interesting and smart young girl in the village who gained experience working with herbs from her father who unfortunately dies when Sari is only 14, leaving her to fend for herself. It's not that difficult for Sari however, because she takes up residence with the crone midwife of the village, Judit. The story changes when the men go off to fight...more

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May 23, 2012 Chum rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: literary-fiction, my-bookgroup-made-me-do-it

Utterly surprising book that kept my stomach in knots 'til the end. A true literary page-turner, this novel was inspired by true events in WWI Hungary, where a group of women living in a remote village began killing their abusive husbands (and sometimes other "burdensome" relatives) with arsenic supplied by a local midwife/healer after the end of the war brought the men home. Thanks to generally superb writing, I cared about these women, even as I was horrified at the escalating toll. My favorit...more

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Apr 27, 2013 james rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is an excellent first novel by the author. It's based on events which occurred in a small Hungarian village from just before World War I until several years after the armistice.

As the War begins, all the men in the village march off to join the Austrian Army. For the women left behind this becomes beneficial: no nasty men are around to beat and torment them. Suddenly life becomes even better when a large number of Italian prisoners of war show up, many of whom become lovers of the local wo...more

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Jan 07, 2012 Gerri Leen rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: abandoned-mid-read

This book has the potential to be so very good that it pains me to trash it. But trash it I must. And the reason would probably floor anyone who knows me. You see, I swear like a trooper and I'm going to abandon this book for Too Much F***ing Swearing. Yes, that's right. And not because I'm offended. Although I kind of actually am which is a hardish thing to do. But more because it's completely jarring. This is set in WWI (that's right World War ONE) Hungary. I do not expect to hear language lik...more

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Dec 25, 2011 Holly rated it 4 of 5 stars

I really liked this book...would be a great movie except for the fact that Hollywood would sensationalize it and wouldn't concentrate on the marvelous transformation of the women in the story and the tale it really tells about relationships. It's about a small village in Hungary at the start of WWI...all the men go to war and the women are left to carry on. Their relationships with each other change and their sense of self changes as they interact with each other differently and then with prison...more

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Jul 23, 2012 Carol rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

_Angel Makers_ is fiction, but it is based on a true story. It was compelling until the last quarter or so of the book.

I love stories that involve strong protagonists who rise above their surroundings because of their intelligence. I usually also love stories about midwives. That it is set in a place so far away and strange to me only adds to its appeal.

That said, the part of the story after the protagonist and the midwife's tales feels rushed. It does not evoke emotions because of its summary...more

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May 04, 2012 Shari rated it 3 of 5 stars

This read like a young adult novel, although I don't think it's marketed as such. It was exactly what I was in the mood for -- a quick, plotty read with a strong female character. (Actually, though, I liked the old midwife Judit more than than Sari, the main character.) The premise intrigued me immediately; set in a small Hungarian village in WWI, this novel tells the story (based on real-life events, apparently) of women who find their lives much happier when their husbands go off to war. When...more

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Feb 06, 2012 Carol rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction

This novel is based on a historical event. In a small, remote rural village in Hungary, when the men leave for WWI and soon after a prison camp for Italian officers is established nearby, things change drastically for the women left behind. They gain a new freedom, friendships among them build and deepen, and affairs with the nearby prisoners spring up. When the war ends and the men return, the women are no longer willing to put up with abusive husbands, and that's when the poisonings start.
Thi...more

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