Než se rozdělíme – Tajovská Iva (2021)

The new novel by the beloved author tells the story of interpersonal relationships and the state of the world at the turn of the last millennium. It maps the interconnected fates of several families in Czechoslovakia and the Balkans during the 1990s, a decade that brought not only the fall of communism and the end of the Cold War but also the disintegration of states and families and new armed conflicts. An old photographer travels with his young student along the Mediterranean coast, returning to places that have marked his fate in the past. Two friends, along with a Serbian interpreter, search in Serbia for neglected monuments of fallen Czech soldiers. The division of Czechoslovakia and the opening of the StB archives disrupt relationships in two families that must once again find their way to each other. And in bombed-out Belgrade, a young woman prepares for the birth of her first child... Iva Tajovská touches on themes of humanity and empathy, which people naturally long for even in the toughest times. Her strong and straightforward prose penetrates deeply into the conscience of her heroes, while also bringing hope – that hope lies within the people themselves, in the children who, if loved enough, can find a way to heal open wounds.