Palazzo

by Hans Habe

English, German (translation)

317 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1975

About the author

Janos Békessy, better known under his pen name Hans Habe (12 February 1911, Budapest – 29 September 1977, Locarno) was an Hungarian-Austrian writer and newspaper publisher. From 1941, he held U.S. citizenship. Habe used also the pseudonyms Antonio Corte, Frank Richard, Frederick Gert, John Richler, Hans Wolfgang, and Robert Pilchowski.

Habe was born as Janos Békessy in Budapest, then capital of the Kingdom of Hungary in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. His parents, Imre Békessy and Bianca Marton, were of Jewish origin but converted to the Christian (Protestant) faith.[citation needed] After World War I the family moved to Vienna where his father published one of the first daily tabloids, Die Stunde (The Hour), from 1923 to 1926. János was educated at the Franz-Joseph-Gymnasium between 1921 and 1929. Afterwards he started to study Law and German Literature at Heidelberg, but returned soon to Vienna because of the growing Anti-Semitism in Germany.

Reviews

[Ravi Singh · Rating 2 out of 5]

If like me you love Venice, then that is no reason to read this book.

A good story, but dry and drawn out in places, Venice is not necessarily brought to life, read Michael Dibdin books for that (detective novels). A good writer, indulgent in this book though.