When Ava Fodor returns to New York from Paris, she leaves behind her budding romance with Pierre and turns her attention to another man: Zsolt Fodor, her father. He's a penniless Hungarian poet transplanted to New York in the wake of the failed 1956 Hungarian uprising. Raised by her New England grandparents, Ava barely knows him. Dramatic, effusive, emotional, he's everything her grandmother warned her against. Yet his crazy conversation fascinates her. His chicken paprikash isn't bad either. Pierre's pull draws Ava back to France, to the medieval walled city of Carcassonne. There, his tender care of his ailing mother awakens Ava to something lacking in herself. Unless she finds it, she can't give him her heart. When her father has a heart attack, Ava is thrust into a caregiver role, looking after a man who never looked after her. She's terrible at it. So was her father, so he forgives her. But can she forgive him? Until she learns to love the man she has every reason to abandon in his hour of need, she can't move on. Only her father can show her the way. But will she let him? And if she can, will it be too late for Pierre and her?
"An exotic, romantic adventure with a complex soul that connects us all. And the Hungarian thread that runs through it is just delicious. Big enough and bold enough for the big screen."
I just finished Black is Not A Color. TERRIFIC. There is much I would like to tell you about my enjoyment of it, but if I were to pick one thing that made me laugh out loud it was the scene in Chptr. Six with Ava's father's girlfriend at the hospital. It could make a great short story for the New Yorker.
"Rozsa Gaston takes us on another delicious adventure through France and beyond. Sexy, thrilling, and deeply moving, Black is Not a Color has everything you'd want in a novel, plus lots of spice, specifically paprika."
"Imagine if Judith Krantz had been a history scholar at Yale when she wrote Scruples. If this idea appeals, you are likely to be engaged and fascinated by Black Is Not A Color. The book is at once witty, smart and touching. It will make you want to devour chicken paprikash and then go shopping at a chic Manhattan boutique with your best girlfriend. A sensitive delineation of family dynamics and some wonderful insight into geopolitical geography."
"Readers will be delighted, intrigued and entertained by Black Is Not a Color. This enjoyable continuation of Ava's worldly tale, begun in Paris Adieu, is full of vibrant characters with great chemistry. Gaston writes this story with intelligence, emotion, creativity and heart."
"Heartwarming, romantic and sexy, Black is Not a Color touches upon friendship, romantic relationships and the strength of familial bonds. This moving read for sophisticated readers evokes both a desire for European travel and a renewed appreciation for my hometown of New York City."
"A compelling, entertaining, and deftly crafted read from first page to last."
http://www.greenwich-post.com/26212/local-author-gaston-looks-to-her-own-life-as-genesis-of-new-novel/
"A compelling, entertaining, and deftly crafted read from first page to last." http://www.midwestbookreview.com/sbw/mar_15.htm#Fiction
France's Medieval Walled City of Carcassonne by Rozsa Gaston 2-5-15
http://westchesterguardian.com/OPED%201.html
