About a book
LILI OF THE VALEY. Rudolf Dilong's Forbidden Love
Original title: Konvália -zakázaná láska Rudolfa Dilonga
Genre: novel
Slovak edition: Slovart
Foreign editions: Acropolis - 2022 (Czech), Womanpress-2021 (Hungarian)
Theatre adaptation: Štúdio L+S -2021
Radio adaptation: RTVS - 2017
CONTENT
The story of the Jewish girl Vali Reiszová, who during the Holocaust became the mother of the child of a Franciscan monk and the exposed Slovak poet Rudolf Dilong, is a thin book composed of family memories, period clippings and testimonies of companions. The story of the Franciscan priest and poet Rudolf Dilong's love for the young Jewish girl and poet Valéria Reiszová is very compelling. Author Denisa Fulmeková borrowed the title of her memoir biography about her grandparents from her grandfather's poem of the same name. Although it is a biographical novel, the author admits that it is written from her point of view, and the mosaic of fragments of family stories and relationships may be somewhat distorted. The novel is made up of numbered pictures, some of which are only reflections and short notes of the author, while others are descriptions of the life events of the main characters. However, the largest part consists of samples from Dilong's correspondence. After emigrating to Rome and then to Argentina, he started writing letters to Valéria in which he was interested in life in Slovakia.
REVIEWS
“A characteristic feature of the book is the emotional contribution of the author, the sympathetic commitment of the author, who is determined to process an interesting topic in a literary manner. It is a family story that is directly related to the personal identity of the writer herself, but above all to the author's grandmother. Finally, it is a topic with a cultural overlap, with a wider, more socially general validity.................
.... A sensitive story for several actors was not easy to process. Even though the death of the main protagonists made the situation easier for the author, it is admirable that she even got into it. Although the insurmountable boundaries can be felt in the book, despite everything, it is carried in the spirit of piety, it does not go beyond some things, bypasses some, does not ask about some. Perhaps also because there is no one who can give a dedicated and direct answer to them.
Denisa Fulmeková's Lily of the valley is a worthy attempt to somehow cope with all this.”
Radoslav Passia, literary scientist, SAV
“The writer's granddaughter fulfilled her duty to her family, but at the same time she wrote a book that is easy to read and talks about the whole of Slovakia, in international contexts. Unfortunately, she also writes about the fact that the fates of many relatives were tragic. Rudolf Dilong emerges from the book as a very interesting poet and a person who created a lot and still struggled. The granddaughter does not idealize him, she gets to know him while writing and only now fully realizes who he was and what her grandfather was like. In short, it's a very interesting reading for anyone interested in history, which know how to play big dramas with people, but in the book the author has everything under her thumb - the text is more than a family chronicle.”
Pravda, SK
“I can't start but from the end. After reading Denisa Fulmekova's book Lily of the valley, I was overcome with regret. Pity that it doesn't have at least a hundred more pages. A powerful story written in a very engaging and fresh way. So, I would like to know more details. Who and what she thought about the individual stages and how she experienced it. Easily in the form of an interview with everyone who appears in at least four pages of the book. On the other hand, I understand that reconstructing this story was not easy, especially when there are fewer and fewer memorial persons. And so, this book is small in a small format and approximately 120 pages long. It's a pity, but I must make do with a little.... This story and the way it was presented got me. I highly recommend.”
Reader
Website made by @monisrll © 2023