Čas voní dálkou / Země svobodných, domov smělých – Vaňková Ludmila (2021)

A historical novel about friendship, love, courage, and the desire for freedom set in 1848. Promising young actress Katinka Krákorová has many admirers among students in Prague and Vienna, and she experiences the revolutionary storms with them, during which the monarchy shakes to its foundations. Student Vojta Náprstek falls in love with Katinka, and after the revolution's defeat, they leave for the land of free and brave people — America, where Katinka is soon renamed Naprsquaw. During their adventurous journey across the sea, Vojta's great love is fulfilled, but it outrages his family and many people in Prague. Vojta and Katinka settle in Milwaukee, where they find refuge with German refugees from the Vienna barricades, and they also meet a young doctor, Aigner, who will once again intervene in their lives. The dynamic environment of American society also adversely affects their coexistence, and their helpless misunderstanding temporarily separates them. Katinka works as a teacher for two years in the slave-holding South, but their mutual desire brings them back together, and they travel to Prague to find answers to unspoken questions. Will Katinka settle in Europe, or will she prefer to remain an independent American? And will Vojta give in to Katinka's mother, or will he rebel against prejudice and narrow-minded morality?