dragoman

“That this slippery narration — a risky choice — not only propels the story forward but also resonates with the book’s themes of instability and skewed perception is a testament to Dragoman’s powers,” Rebecca Makkai writes in her review.

Like the mysterious grandmother, Dragoman seems to have our best interests at heart.

“Maglya,” the original Hungarian title of Gyorgy Dragoman’s novel “The Bone Fire,” means not quite a bonfire but a pyre, a place where one might be burned alive.

Indeed, “The Bone Fire” hews closely to the history of this region of Romania, where Dragoman himself grew up before moving to Budapest in 1988.

That this slippery narration — a risky choice — not only propels the story forward but also resonates with the book’s themes of instability and skewed perception is a testament to Dragoman’s powers.