Author: Viliam Klimá?ek

Publisher:

Published: 2021-04

Total Pages: 312

ISBN-13: 9781942134718

In the spring of 1968, the Czechoslovakian Communist Party experimented with "socialism with a human face"-known then as the "Prague Spring." Suddenly there were new important changes for the citizens of Czechoslovakia: freedom of the Press; an end to arbitrary wiretaps; and the right to travel without prior authorizations and visas. The borders opened to the West, consumer goods appeared in the stores, and the winds of freedom blew over the country. Then, in late August, Soviet tanks invaded Prague to put an end to this brief liberalization experiment.Viliam Klimá?ek's vivid novel describes the impact of Prague Spring and the Soviet Invasion on the everyday lives of twenty-five Czechoslovakian families. Retelling the stories of both Czech and Slovak diaspora, Klimá?ek reveals how these political events changed the lives and future of these families forever. After briefly enjoying new freedoms they were forced to flee their homeland. Some saw their families torn apart; others lost their possessions or were dispossessed. But they all ventured on perilous journeys seeking refuge and freedom in new countries; and, like all immigrants, they had to rebuild their lives and livelihoods. The experiences that the characters in this novel endure and overcome are continually being repeated for untold millions again and again as people around the world flee intolerance, war, climate change, and other disasters in our contemporary age. Constructing his stories on real testimonies, Klimá?ek's novel is a beautiful hymn to tolerance and the necessity of supporting marginalized people.