Summary of the book:  Pavel and Dominika meet in late 1980s.  They experience a strong flush of feelings, during which the Velvet Revolution of 1989 takes place.  Much like the communist régime, their relationship starts to break down. New possibilities of self-realization open to both of them, but that also emphasizes the fact that their characters are quite different.  Pavel founds a private company and even entangles with the mafia; Dominika, on the other hand, is eager to go to France and look for her relatives and family roots.  As time goes by, they find out, however, that something essential has been lost.  But is it possible to go back and start again at the very beginning?

Reasons for this choice:  Jiří Hájíček has already published several collections of short stories.  His novel is an important testimony of the social situation after the fall of communism, the country’s opening towards the world and new opportunities, but also the effect these changes had on the sphere of spiritual values and social relations.  Hájíček calls by their true names different phenomena of the post-communist world (freedom, possibility of travelling, but also bankruptcies, wild enterprising activities and crime), but at the same time he also shows the inner development of his characters.  That is also the reason why his book became very popular among Czech readers.

Rights holder: Host