Tiché roky – Mornštajnová Alena (2019)

What do we not know about our closest ones? Bohdana is a reserved girl living only with her grumpy father and kind-hearted yet submissive Běla. She is troubled by the tension in the house and a mystery that keeps nagging at her: Why did her seriously ill grandmother call her "Blanka" during her last visit to the sanatorium? Alongside this, the story of Svatopluk Žák unfolds, a devoted communist who dedicated his entire life to building socialism, and to the love for his wife and daughter, whose future was meant to be as bright as the star on the red flag. But as the saying goes: If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans. And so, at one moment, both stories merge into one, revealing that nothing is as it has seemed so far, and certainly not as it should be. Alena Mornštajnová's new novel is different from her previous ones. It is not about a grand historical theme, but rather an intimate family drama, where the main roles are not played by great history, but by coincidences and human characters. Just like in the novel Hana, it is a strong, compellingly told story that will captivate readers from the first to the last page.