The Balkan Trilogy (The Great Fortune / The Spoilt City / Friends and Heroes)

This book is out of print and hard to find, but deserves better. It's not perfect - it's a girl book lengthy in human nuance and short on action - but it gives a superb view of life on the ground in Eastern Europe as World War II begins. The action is seen primarily through the eyes of Harriet Pringle, a newlywed from England who accompanies her husband Guy back to his job in Bucharest, just as the war begins, Germany and then Russia dismantle Poland, and Polish refugees flood into town. A newcomer, Harriet slowly finds her feet among the English-speaking émigré community, their numbers swelled by the flotsam of war. Characters like the impoverished Prince Yakimov, a freeloading raconteur, both embellish and complicate the Pringles' life, as do various diplomats, travelers, teachers and scam artists. Guy is a good-hearted and generous left-winger inclined to interpret all events through the lens of revolution healing all ills. Harriet isn't so sure, and sees Guy continually taken advantage of because of his good nature. She slowly comes to resent how much of himself he gives to others while neglecting her. She finds companionship with the wealthy Bella, an Englishwoman married to a Romanian, a society belle, and with Clarence, a morose Englishman who slowly falls for her. Yakimov, a white Russian émigré and the now-penniless widower of a wealthy woman, moves in with the Pringles when he has no place to go. They also find themselves hiding Sasha, fugitive son of a wealthy Jew, and a marked man. What happens in the three novels as the situation darkens, and as the action moves to Athens, gives one an unusual taste of the life of that period and of a corner of the war rarely written about in English, but fascinating nonetheless. In Athens, there is little illusion left about avoiding the war, only worry about whether the Greeks can hold against the Italians, whether the Germans will come in against them, whether the British will commit, and if so whether they can deliver. Manning has a fine eye for social detail, habits and mores, bringing the intense politics of the time to life as travelers and natives alike align themselves for the imminent storm.

I'm practically in mourning since I finished reading the last book in the Balkan Trilogy. Luckily, the story continues in the Levant Trilogy, which I plan to read soon. The three books of the Balkan Trilogy--The Great Fortune, The Spoiled City, and Friends and Heroes--tell the story of Guy and Harriet Pringle, a British couple living in Romania at the beginning of WWII. The story has many layers. First, there's a sense of place. Manning does a superb job describing Bucharest--a so-called Paris of the east--before the Iron Curtain fell. The beggars, the peasants, the demolition of beautiful old buildings, the gardens, cafes and restaurants, the abundent food. It all makes a colorful picture. Next is the story of the Pringles' friends: the hapless Prince Yakimov who has nothing but his witty repartee to recommend him, Clarence, who has a crush on Harriet, Inchcape, the stiff-upper-lip Brit, Dobson the diplomat, Sascha, the Jewish refugee they shelter in their apartment, Sophie, the Romainian student who has designs on Guy. All these characters are well drawn. Finally, these novels are the story of a marriage, told mainly from Harriet's perspective, we see the stress of being married to a Personality. The author's note states that the books are written so that each can be read individually and independently from their mates. I think the story is much richer if all three books are read together, in order. The first novel sets the stage. In the second, the plot thickens. In the third, the Pringles have fled to Athens, one step ahead of the Nazis. By the end, they have become refugees, packed onto a decrepit ship headed for Egypt as the Nazis advance into Greece. The abundent food of the first novel is long gone. They are hungry and dirty, have had to abandon most of their possesions and even toilet paper is a precious commodity. (Each lady is given three squares: one wipe up, one down, and one polisher.) I can't wait to read the Levant Trilogy.

I picked up this book in a little used book store on SaltSpring Island in Canada whilst on holiday. It is a well written and very interesting look at the lives of several British nationals caught behind enemy lines in the early years of WWII. A smashing good read.

I read this trilogy, in the Penguin edition, as the first volume of Olivia Manning's "Fortunes of War". Composed of three novels, it narrates the evolution and growth of Harriet Pringle, from a young, unworldly and hopeful newlywed, to self aware, disillusioned, but profoundly humane cosmopolitan who wearily flees the German advance against the backdrop of WWII in southern Europe. We meet the main character (Harriet, from whose point of view we see everyting)as she has recently married and is travelling, in the company of her husband, Guy, to Bucharest. WWII has just begun, and the young British couple finds many alarming signs of this in their way to the country where they intend to spend some time, since Guy has a teaching post there. As we get to know them while they settle in Bucharest, we can see how Harriet and Guy are totally different in personality: while Guy is idealistic, open and gregarious, Harriet is reserved, not very talkative and even suspicious. These differences become apparent for them, as well as for those who know them, creating tension and misunderstandings in their married life. Harriet doesn't understand why Guy seems to love to be with everybody, and have a good time on top of that, and spends so little time with her. He also cares about everybody's problems except her own (she doesn't bother to give a clue about them, but anyway expects him to at least look interested). All this would seem ordinary, boring, married life stuff,..... except that the setting is the very troubled Europe of the war.I also think Harriet's thinking and feeling processes are quite likely and credible: we tend to see ourselves, in the middle of our misfortune and unhappiness, as the centre of the world, even when shattering, but vague and general, events sorround us. Harriet does indeed seem more interested in the obnoxiousness of her husband's behaviour than in the real tragic and dangerous situation they are in. For, even though Romanian people assure them that they are in a safe country,allied of the Germans, events begin to tell otherwise. Harriet, however, is not as much interested in historic events as in her discovery of the very real differences in character and disposition that seem to distance her from her husband or, even more surprising for her, the sudden realization of how interesting and worth of affection some of the people she meets in Bucharest are. This latter, the fact that she can feel authentic, deep affection for total strangers with whom she doesn't share anything (culture, language, age, background...) makes her worry more about the real possibilities of success her marriage has....while it also teaches her how there is a human core in herself and others, even in the middle of chaos and tragedy, that makes human connectedness possible. On the other hand, this device makes us acquainted with truly fascinatig characters, tridimensional, charming and lovable with flaws and all. But she has to leave Bucharest in a hur

This series of novels (consisting of The Balkan Trilogy and The Levant Trilogy) focus on the lives of Guy and Harriet Pringle through the years of the second world war. Guy is a lecturer for the British Council and spends the war teaching in Bucharest, Athens and Cairo. The real war action is always close and threatening, never actually centre stage. The novel works well to provide a "ground up" view of war as it effects those civilians on its borders. However, the beauty of the work lies in the day -to -day portrait of a developing relationship. From newly weds to disaffection, through to quiet resignation Harriet and Guy are compelling and real, familiar and challenging. No other novel builds its characters in such detail, no other novel offers such profound insights into the killing familiarity of a marriage. The canvas is large, but the focus of events is on the daily monotony that drains the magic out of relationships but, silently, replaces it with the threads of shared experience and intimate knowledge that can prove a more effective cement . As well as a relationship, this is a catalogue of vivid characters. The prickly intelligent Harriet. The frustratingly socially promiscous Guy -a man you learn to despise and then, over the course of the novels, like a member of your family, to love as well. With them are a collection of secondary characters that are believable and fascinating in their own right as well as catalysts for the main protagonists. A book to read, and re-read and eventually to become part of the fabric of your life.