Sidonia V. Antal
Author of “When The Forest Held Its Breath” – interviewed September 10, 2025.
Sidonia, is from Hungary and “When The Forest Held Its Breath“, is Sidonia’s first book in English. Sidonia previously won Hungary’s National Bestseller Writing Championship and as well as being an author Sidonia is a journalist.
Sidonia V. Antal gifts available here.
Could you tell us about Hungary’s National Bestseller Writing Championship, which you won?
I came across the announcement for the competition quite by chance, at a time when I wasn’t yet writing professionally. Since I already loved both reading and writing in my free time, I thought I’d give it a try. The contest didn’t require submitting a fully completed book, so I quickly wrote down the idea I had in mind at the time and sent it in. Interestingly, another competition was launched at almost the same time by a newspaper publisher. I thought, why not enter that one too? So, I did. Both publishers announced their results around the same time: I won the book publisher’s contest, while I didn’t win the newspaper’s. However, they liked my style so much that they offered me a journalist position instead. My life changed overnight — I started working on my own book (the grand prize of the publishing contest), while at the same time I became a writer at a daily newspaper in Budapest as a complete beginner, learning everything on the job. It was definitely the deep end, but luckily, I didn’t sink. What I did lose, though, was sleep — that semester I barely slept at all. Still, it was absolutely worth it.
Was your first book in Hungarian also a thriller?
No. That novel was a light, women’s fiction. It’s not entirely far from me even now, but with my second book I wanted to show another side of myself. And although “When The Forest Held Its Breath” is fundamentally a thriller, it still carries the same lightness, female perspective, and dry humour.
Why did you choose to publish in English this time, and not in Hungarian?
Hungary is a very small country, with fewer than 10 million people, and Hungarian is a language only we speak. That means the readership is rather limited, and I wanted to share my story with a broader audience. Although this novel will not be published in Hungarian, it will also be available in German on Amazon from October 2025.
Do you have a favourite author or book that inspired you to write “When The Forest Held Its Breath”?
If I had to highlight one, it would definitely be Leslie L. Lawrence, a very popular Hungarian writer. His novels are quite different from mine in many ways, but his style and storytelling have certainly inspired me. He is a wonderful author who is still actively writing well into his eighties.
The book ends in a way that suggests a sequel might be coming. Is that true?
Yes, the girls will soon find themselves in new adventures. I’ve always loved stories that work both as a series and as stand-alone novels. I already have some ideas, but for now I’ll just say that Nora is heading toward a much more dangerous adventure than before, and — as always — she will find a rather unconventional way to get through it.
I understand that you use the name Sidonia only for your fiction writing. May I ask why you chose this particular name?
My original given name is Viktoria. However, my father often playfully called me Sidonia because of the way the two names sounded together. When I decided I wanted to separate my novelist self a little from my journalist and private self, this name immediately came to mind. Since my father has passed away, using it also feels like a way of honouring his memory.
