Dvojitá kaple – Wagnerová Alena (2021)

Alena Wagnerová is known as an oral historian and publicist, as an author of biographies of cultural figures and short stories. An exceptional place in her work is represented by the novella Double Chapel, as it is an intimate confession about the childhood, adolescence, and maturation of a young woman, with the narrative arc centered on the relationship between parents and children. The novella stands out primarily for its intensity. Although it is an introspective prose, a stream of the protagonist's inner monologues, dialogues, and memories, a real drama of one life, or rather one family, unfolds before the reader's eyes. It is all the more impressive because most of us have experienced it in some form and degree ourselves. Family is a place of safety and love for children, but also of defiance, resistance, and sometimes alienation. The demands and standards that parents place on their children often clash with those they impose on themselves; this is also true for the children. Wagnerová's impressive prose culminates in a catharsis, which is understanding, forgiveness, and finding a way back to oneself. And not as a phrase, but as a search experienced to the last sentence and word. The seemingly banal realization that parents are, first and foremost, a man and a woman, people with all their weaknesses, resonates with readers with extraordinary strength due to its artistic and human truth.