Mira Bartok crafts stories that delve into the depths of human memory and experience. Her writing is celebrated for its poetic quality, capturing complex emotions with both delicacy and power. Through her work, she explores themes of trauma, recovery, and the search for identity. Bartok's distinctive voice and insightful perspective on the human psyche resonate deeply with readers.
In this extraordinary debut novel, Mira Bartók introduces Arthur, a shy, fox-like foundling with one ear and a longing to belong. He finds himself at the Home for Wayward and Misbegotten Creatures, run by the malevolent Miss Carbunkle, who sees her terrified charges as mere tools for servitude. The groundlings, part animal and part human, are forced to labor in classrooms and factories, deprived of joys like singing and music. Arthur, known only by the number 13 etched on a medallion, has never known another home. However, an unexpected act of bravery leads him to form a bond with Trinket, a young bird groundling, who gifts him a real name—Arthur, inspired by the noble king of old tales—and a true friendship. Together, they use Trinket’s clever invention to escape the confines of the Home, embarking on an adventure that reveals Arthur's true destiny. With rich imagination, shimmering language, steampunk elements, and captivating plot twists, this high fantasy tale promises an exhilarating journey and has already garnered attention for a major motion picture adaptation.
In the tradition of The Glass Castle , two sisters confront schizophrenia in this poignant literary memoir about family and mental illness. Through stunning prose and original art, The Memory Palace captures the love between mother and daughter, the complex meaning of truth, and family’s capacity for forgiveness. “People have abandoned their loved ones for much less than you’ve been through,” Mira Bartók is told at her mother’s memorial service. It is a poignant observation about the relationship between Mira, her sister, and their mentally ill mother. Before she was struck with schizophrenia at the age of nineteen, beautiful piano protégé Norma Herr had been the most vibrant personality in the room. She loved her daughters and did her best to raise them well, but as her mental state deteriorated, Norma spoke less about Chopin and more about Nazis and her fear that her daughters would be kidnapped, murdered, or raped. When the girls left for college, the harassment escalated—Norma called them obsessively, appeared at their apartments or jobs, threatened to kill herself if they did not return home. After a traumatic encounter, Mira and her sister were left with no choice but to change their names and sever all contact with Norma in order to stay safe. But while Mira pursued her career as an artist—exploring the ancient romance of Florence, the eerie mysticism of northern Norway, and the raw desert of Israel—the haunting memories of her mother were never far away. Then one day, a debilitating car accident changes Mira’s life forever. Struggling to recover from a traumatic brain injury, she was confronted with a need to recontextualize her life—she had to relearn how to paint, read, and interact with the outside world. In her search for a way back to her lost self, Mira reached out to the homeless shelter where she believed her mother was living and discovered that Norma was dying. Mira and her sister traveled to Cleveland, where they shared an extraordinary reconciliation with their mother that none of them had thought possible. At the hospital, Mira discovered a set of keys that opened a storage unit Norma had been keeping for seventeen years. Filled with family photos, childhood toys, and ephemera from Norma’s life, the storage unit brought back a flood of previous memories that Mira had thought were lost to her forever.
