Marta v roce vetřelce – Soukupová Petra (2011)

The new novel by the most successful contemporary prose writer, Marta, is fresh at nineteen, beautiful, smart, and everything in her life comes easily. She has just started college and is looking forward to a new life. The only thing that troubles her is a scar on her face. Therefore, during the summer, she takes a job to earn money for plastic surgery and to start her adult life with a new face. And this is where a chain of dramatic events begins that will completely turn Marta's life upside down. She falls head over heels in love with Robert at her job and becomes entirely fixated on him. Soon she discovers that she is pregnant and that Robert is actually married. She decides to have an abortion, but her mother forces her to keep the child so she can take care of it herself. Marta's life is in ruins; her visions of the future, studies, love, and family are collapsing. She knows she cannot handle the role expected of her and is teetering on the edge of depression and rebellion. She copes with the crisis through escapism, alcohol, and self-harm. Petra Soukupová's new book is stylized as a diary of a teenage girl suddenly thrust into adulthood. Soukupová once again proves that the strength of her storytelling lies in the unexpected illumination of existential situations. The suggestion of the entire story is enhanced by a language that convincingly reflects the thinking and expression...