Palotás Petra - A kastélykert álma

"A kastélykert álma" is a novel by Petra Palotás that chronicles a children's home in the 1950s. Etelka Fehérvárcsurgó wakes one morning to learn that her father has been appointed to lead the State Children's Home in Fehérvárcsurgó, leaving his post as a school principal behind. On the threshold of adolescence and without her older siblings, who have already left home, the girl arrives at an institution for boys, where one of the most important periods of her life begins.

The story follows the relationships that form within the walls of the Károlyi Castle: real and imagined friendships, longing, hope, envy and rivalry, and the search for the family-like warmth the children lack. The author draws on her own family history, the years her paternal grandparents ran the institution, blending memories, anecdotes and historical facts with literary invention.

A work of fiction, the book was published by Álomgyár Kiadó in 2022. It weighs 300 grams and carries the ISBN 9789635704644, and it is written for readers of all ages.