November

Alena Mornštajnová, one of the most successful Czech authors, surprises again in the novel Listopád

Have you ever asked yourself what your life would be like if everything had turned out differently in November 1989? What would our fates have been if communism hadn't ended and we had remained behind the Iron Curtain, separating us from the world and from each other?

The novel Listopád is a dramatic story of an ordinary family, torn apart and pitted against each other by major historical events one November night. We follow the story of Marie Hajná, who is arrested for participating in demonstrations and sentenced to twenty years in prison. She knows she will probably never see her children grow up, and only letters keep her going. That, and the hope that they will eventually be reunited.

Alongside this, the story of a young girl, Magdalena, unfolds. She is taken from her parents and placed in a “rehabilitation centre” where new communist cadres are raised. One day, their paths cross, but in a completely different way than either of them had imagined or wished for.