Interweaves story and dream, past and present, and philosophy and poetry in a sardonic and erotic tale of two couples--Tomas and Teresa, and Sabina and her Swiss lover, Gerhart. A young woman is in love with a successful surgeon, a man torn between his love for her and his incorrigible womanizing. His mistress, a free-spirited artist, lives her life as a series of betrayals--while her other lover, earnest, faithful, and good, stands to lose everything...

"Czechoslovakia, 1939: Snow is falling over the city when the Nazis invade. Before the ice on the roads has a chance to melt, everything has changed for the country--and for Viktor Trn. It isn't obvious at first. The day-to-day realities of occupation take time to sink in. After losing his job as a history professor, Trn remains optimistic, preserving what little he can of his family's dwindling freedom...Only when the air raids draw closer is Trn,...

Tells the story of Milos Hrma, a young railway junior dispatcher and signalman returning to work at a minor but strategically important Czech railway station. Milos has been away for three months, recuperating from a suicide attempt, and is warmly welcomed back by Station Master Lansky and Dispatcher Hubicka. The year is 1945, the Germans have lost command of the air-space over the town, but it remains an important rail hub for them and certain key...

"This rediscovered gem of Czech literature, a crime novel by renowned Holocaust memoirist Heda Margolius Kovaly, depicts a chilling moment in history, redolent with the stifling atmosphere of political and personal oppression of the early days of Socialist Czechoslovakia. In 1985, Czech Holocaust memoirist, literary translator, and political exile Heda Margolius Kovaly turned her pen to fiction. Inspired by the stories of Raymond Chandler, Kovaly...