Three Chestnut Horses
First edition cover
AuthorMargita Figuli
Original titleTri gaštanové kone
TranslatorJohn Minahane
Cover artistJozef Cincík[1]
CountrySlovak State
LanguageSlovak
GenreRomance novel, Christian novel
Set inNorthern Slovakia, 1930s
Published1940
PublisherMatica slovenská
Published in English
2014
Media typePrint: hardback
Pages163
891.8735
LC ClassPG5438.F47 T7513
Preceded byOlovený vták 
Followed byTri noci a tri sny 

Three Chestnut Horses (Slovak: Tri gaštanové kone) is a 1940 novel by Margita Figuli in the Slovak language.[2][3][4][5][6]

Plot

Author Margita Figuli, pictured in 1939

In the mountains of Slovakia, Peter has been in love with Magdalena since childhood and asks her to marry him. However, her mother promises her to a cruel, rich farmer, Jano Zapotočný. Magdalena promises Peter that she will put off marrying Jano if Peter can prove himself capable of making a living, but tragedy intervenes in their lives.[7]

Reception

In Slovakia, Three Chestnut Horses was an immediate success, running through eight editions in seven years. is considered a beloved classic.[8] In Women Writers of Great Britain and Europe: An Encyclopedia, Norma L. Rudinsky noted that "[Magdalena and Peter's] spiritual growth through tragedy to a happy ending is mythologized by three horses symbolizing the goodness, beauty and strength of nature as well as the same three qualities gained by obedience to the Christian moral code."[9]

During the period of communist Czechoslovakia, the book was published with several religious passages excised.[10]

Prof. Sarah Hinlicky Wilson awarded it five stars, saying "Three Chestnut Horses as an authentically religious book is a good antidote […] It won’t heal the wounds of living, but it will give you enough balm to carry on to the next encounter."[11]

References

  1. ↑ "Figuli Margita, Tri gaštanové kone". Schody do neba.
  2. ↑ Figuli, Margita; Minahane, John (2014). Three Chestnut Horses. Central European University Press. ISBN 9789633860540. JSTOR 10.7829/j.ctvsf1q79.
  3. ↑ "Three Chestnut Horses | Central European University". www.ceu.edu.
  4. ↑ "Meridians 12-23". Slovak Writers' Union. September 15, 1980 – via Google Books.
  5. ↑ Zirin, Mary; Livezeanu, Irina; Worobec, Christine D.; Farris, June Pachuta (March 26, 2015). Women and Gender in Central and Eastern Europe, Russia, and Eurasia: A Comprehensive Bibliography Volume I: Southeastern and East Central Europe (Edited by Irina Livezeanu with June Pachuta Farris) Volume II: Russia, the Non-Russian Peoples of the Russian. Routledge. ISBN 9781317451976 – via Google Books.
  6. ↑ Petro, Peter (May 13, 1997). History of Slovak Literature. McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP. ISBN 9780773565982 – via Google Books.
  7. ↑ Figuli, Margita (September 15, 2014). Three Chestnut Horses. Central European University Press – via www.ceeol.com.
  8. ↑ Wilson, Katharina M.; Wilson, M. (September 15, 1991). An Encyclopedia of Continental Women Writers. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9780824085476 – via Google Books.
  9. ↑ Wilson, Katharina M.; Schlueter, Paul; Schlueter, June (December 16, 2013). Women Writers of Great Britain and Europe: An Encyclopedia. Routledge. ISBN 9781135616700 – via Google Books.
  10. ↑ Cornis-Pope, Marcel; Neubauer, John (July 18, 2007). History of the Literary Cultures of East-Central Europe: Junctures and disjunctures in the 19th and 20th centuries. Volume III: The making and remaking of literary institutions. John Benjamins Publishing. ISBN 9789027292353 – via Google Books.
  11. ↑ "Slovak Novels in English #7: Three Chestnut Horses". Sarah Hinlicky Wilson. 2 August 2018.
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