He wants a better life in Europe; she just wants someone to love her. Their relationship, problematic from the start, gradually crumbles, leaving them both desperate and hopeless. It might seem that Pekárková’s novel is just next in the line of unhappy love stories involving white women and African men; but in fact, it delves deep into the lives, souls, cultures, and beds of its protagonists, with an eye for the humorous and the absurd. Pekárková lightens up the sad story with fresh, witty language.