Bez paměti – Braslavsky Emma (2010)

The novel is set in East German Erfurt, where a community of Sudeten Germans from the West Bohemian town of Touškov has settled. It tells the tragicomic life story of a young mathematician with a calculating mania, Eduard, his love Anna, and his best childhood friend Paul. The year 1969 is particularly significant for the plot. In Czechoslovakia, a new constitution regulating the status of nationalities comes into effect, which awakens a new wave of political hopes among the heroes of the novel. At the same time, the story intertwines with the animosities of life in a German-style communist dictatorship: we encounter Stasi informers, insensitive urban planning solutions, censorship, and representatives of East German protest songs. A tragic turn in the fates of the heroes is represented by the demonstration of Sudeten German radicals on the day of the celebrations of the hockey victory over the Soviet Union in March 1969 at Wenceslas Square. The second plot line, Eduard's memories, is set in wartime Touškov. The story, with a slight criminal undertone, a tragicomic chain of coincidences, and ordinarily extraordinary characters, is also appealing due to the narrative and linguistic sophistication of the author. It brings to the Czech reader an unusual reflection on the historical events of the war and post-war years in the territory of today's Czech...