The 4th of May
On his deathbed, Gabi releases Paul from a blood oath they made as children to never tell their terrible secrets about growing up in post-WW2 communist Hungary.
Paul’s grief for Gabi becomes a grief for his childhood, his family tree and the struggles of his community.
Paul’s memories emerge with a striking richness of detail and emotion.
They are the memories of a child conceived in the aftermath of a racial war, growing up in the midst of a class war tearing apart Hungarian society, ultimately needing to flee with his family to Australia, a foreign land at the other side of the world.
The 4th of May is a personal oral history, a family history and a community history submerged in trauma. But it is much more than a saga about loss and grief.
It’s about moving from survival to something new, sweet and substantial, through the prism of Paul’s childhood innocence.
Paul Galy’s coming-of age journey is as intoxicating as it is shocking. It is a personable, gripping and astonishing true-life story.
He captivates the reader, recruiting them to aspire, transcend and soar along with him to new and unanticipated emotional heights!
