We All Leave – a thriller Shortlisted for the 2025 Margó Prize for Best Debut Novel, We All Leave is more than a mystery about a luxury villa, a tight-knit group of friends, and a shocking crime. It’s also a sharp, unsettling portrait of contemporary Hungary. Set on the shores of Lake Balaton, the novel explores what it means to live under a corrupt political system—and the personal price of power in a world where money, influence, and loyalty seem to outweigh everything else. At the same time, We All Leave is a generational story. It speaks openly about the choice between staying or leaving the country, the challenges of infertility and starting a family, and the fragile boundaries between friendship, ambition, and morality.

• “The representative novel of his generation” – HVG
• “What makes the novel a thriller is the way it helps us interpret our own lives—shaped by constant suspicion, unresolved tensions, and the search for a way out. With Dorosz’s bold, energetic voice and unmistakably contemporary prose, this book speaks about many people, and to many people.” — Margó Prize Shortlist Jury
• “A truly gripping read—you simply can’t put it down.” — Anna Ott
• “Dorosz creates his characters and their world in a way that makes countless readers instantly connect to the story.” — We Love Balaton

Coming soon…

We All Leave, the debut novel by Dávid Dorosz, cuts straight to the questions people whisper about behind closed doors but rarely dare to voice.

“My years in politics taught me that the most dangerous secrets are the ones everyone pretends don’t exist. Those became the cornerstones of the novel,” Dorosz says. Set at Lake Balaton—an idyllic landscape that perfectly captures Hungary’s stark dualities—the story pulls back the curtain on the tension and quiet rot beneath the polished surface.

At its heart, the novel speaks to a generation in its thirties and forties: its ambitions, its fears, and the betrayals—large and small—that shape adult life. “I wrote this book for anyone who has ever looked around and wondered, How the hell did we get here?” he adds.

Blending psychological suspense with sharp social insight, We All Leave delivers a gripping, contemporary narrative and the kind of propulsive tension that makes it impossible to put down.