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Автор Элена Понятовска
Elena Poniatowska
Leonora
About the Author
ELENA PONIATOWSKA is Mexico’s greatest living novelist. She lives in Coyoacán, a quiet suburb of Mexico City close to the Casa Azul, where Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera and — until his assassination — Leon Trotsky resided. Fluent in English, French and Spanish, Poniatowska has published novels, non-fiction books and essays and been translated into over twenty languages. She is one of the founders of
AMANDA HOPKINSON has translated books from French, Portuguese and Spanish, mostly from Latin America. She also writes books on Latin American culture, particularly photography. A former director of the British Centre for Literary Translation, she is currently visiting professor in literary translation at City University, London.
Praise for
‘One of the most powerful voices in modern Hispanic writing’ Cervantes Prize citation
‘Masterful … Poniatowska paints a picture of a troubled woman who personifies the dreams and nightmares of the twentieth century’ Biblioteca Breve Prize citation
‘A simple act of love, a tribute to an exceptional human being’
Leonora
To my grandson Thomas
1. CROOKHEY HALL
THE DINING-ROOM TABLECLOTH is laid with dishes and around it are gathered the four children: Patrick, the eldest, is breakfasting on porridge, as are Gerard and Arthur; Leonora dislikes the stuff but the nanny, Mary Kavanaugh, says that when she reaches the middle of her bowl of oats she’ll find Lake Windermere, the biggest and most beautiful lake in all England. So the girl, spoon in hand, eats the porridge from the outside edge inwards, beginning to hear the sound of water and see how tiny waves ruffle its surface as she nears Windermere.
Of the boys’ three pairs of watching eyes, Gerard’s are her favourite because they smile.
The dining room is dark and gloomy, just like the rest of Crookhey Hall.
Leonora has known soot since she was a child. Perhaps Planet Earth is one immense chimney. The smoke surging from the Lancashire textile mills accompanies her night and day. Leonora’s father is the king of all this blackness, and he, the brilliant businessman, is the blackest of all of them. Even the men she sees out on the street are dark with soot. Her grandfather invented the machine that manufactures a blend of wool and cotton trademarked Viyella, and Carrington Cottons stands out proudly in a county where the air is always tinged with the factory ash. When her father, Harold Wilde Carrington, sells the company to Courtaulds, he becomes the main shareholder in Imperial Chemical Industries.Crossing Crookhey Hall from one wing to the other requires a great many steps. The Gothic mansion accommodates the Carringtons — father, Harold; mother, Maurie; the brother who follows Leonora around and is her playmate, Gerard; unlike Patrick, who is too grown up, or Arthur, who’s too young. Two Scottish Terrier puppies, Rab and Toby, keep her company. Leonora kneels in front of Rab to look him in the eye and rub noses.
