The House on Matoušova Street
In 1927, Eduard Schwarz, a widowed Jewish lawyer, bought a house on Matoušova Street in Prague for himself and his family. In her novel, Tereza Boučková—who lived in the house from birth to adulthood and moved back again a few years ago—presents the nearly 100-year story of the Schwarz family, as well as the other…
Číst dáleA Slight Loss of Loneliness
Seventeen-year-old Peter Stein survived the horrors of the Auschwitz concentration camp — including a death march. Completely exhausted physically and mentally, he arrives in his hometown, Prague. It is May 1945 and the city is joyfully celebrating the end of the war. The return of shadows from the past does not fit into this time…
Číst dáleThe Virgin
The author tells a story from the Central Bohemian town of Příbram, which takes place between 1938 and 1991. The focus is on a strong woman: Ema Dolejšová. At the end of the Second World War, she took in a deserter from the Russian Vlasov Army and hid him for decades. Ema lives in the…
Číst dálePravomil—The Deafening Silence of Justice
The Czech soldier Pravomil Raichl (1921-2002) had such an unusual life that it makes great material for a novel—one which is dedicated to the atrocities of the 20th century. He was an intrepid resistance fighter, first against Nazism and later against Communism. He survived Soviet gulags, but also World War II battles and was injured…
Číst dáleNeptune’s Cave
A statue of the god Neptune adorns the fountain by the entrance to the famous artificial cave in Prague’s Havlíček park. Marek Toman has the god come to life and uses him as a means and mouthpiece to observe major events in Czech society from the 1870s, when the industrialist Mořic Gröbe has the Havlíček…
Číst dáleThe Eye of the Shark
The novel tells the story of the Czech left-winger Mirek Klecan, an idealist, member of the International Brigade in Spain, resistance fighter during World War II and a man who collaborated with two totalitarian regimes. While he was in Spain fighting as a brigade member, he met the photographer Robert Capa, whose picture of the…
Číst dáleThe Big News about the Dreadful Murder of Šimon Abeles
The novel takes place in two time levels. The first one, set in the late 17th century, is the story of Šimon Abeles, a 12-year-old Jewish boy, who dies after his decision to convert to Christianity. A politically motivated murder trial starts unfolding, accusing the father and fuelling an anti-Jewish atmosphere in the society. Thanks…
Číst dáleThe Praise of Opportunism
Marek Toman’s fictitious memoirs have an unusual, lofty protagonist: the Černín Palace, located in the vicinity of the Prague Castle. Built in the 17th century as the residence of Humprecht Jan Černín, the Habsburg imperial ambassador to Venice, it is currently the seat of the Ministry of Culture. Marek Toman has made the largest Baroque…
Číst dálePérák
There is war and the Nazi rulers in Prague are very worried: a fighter with seemingly supernatural powers moves through the city, instilling fear in the occupiers. The athletic superhero, whispered about on street corners, can leap unusually far and high. He uses his skills to sabotage the German war economy. He is also involved…
Číst dáleMummy Mill
Culinary delicacies, eroticism, philosophical questions and strange murders – these are the ingredients, with which Petr Stančík blends a postmodern grotesque thriller. The fantasy novel takes place in the historical background of the Austro-Prussian War of 1866. At that time a serial killer emerges in the historical center of Prague. Commissioner Leopold Durman is on…
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