Dopisy na svačinovém papíru – Henn Carsten (2025)

A sweet, poetic novel about two people who are like water and fire, about the clash of love and freedom, about independence and the desire to belong somewhere.

Against the backdrop of a tender love story, Carsten Henn seeks to answer the question of whether we determine the direction of our lives ourselves or let others decide for us, whether we are guided by fate, chance, or our free will.

Who still writes letters today? Real ones, on paper and by hand? Certainly Kati Waldstein, who, on the brink of her forties, decided to start a new life and bids farewell to everyone who has influenced her life – for better or worse – with letters written on snack paper. The kind shopkeeper, the strict teacher, the ex-husband.

One day she meets Severin, a somewhat mysterious homeless man. A tragic event caused this piano tuner to end up on the street. He firmly believes, however, that Kati and her hometown are his destiny.

It seems they are made for each other, yet they cannot find their way to one another until Kati realizes she doesn't have to say goodbye to the past to start a new future, and Severin understands that he will only have a future if he accepts his past.