Tlu hlavou o ze Procjuk Stepan (2025)

This Czech-language novel explores complicated family relationships and the different ways people cope with lifelong trauma. It reveals the hidden causes of the misunderstanding between a father and son, shaped to a great extent by oppressive circumstances: Soviet slavery and poverty, an atmosphere of pervasive fear, suspicion and hopelessness, imprisonment, prohibitions, persecution and the Ukrainian nations long, unequal struggle for independence. Alongside specific memories, the novel combines psychological depths, philosophical reflections and dreamlike scenes to illustrate the absurdity of totalitarian thinking. At the same time, it describes without embellishment the side of Ukrainian patriotism that was meant to be crushed forever but remained, precisely because of this, deeply rooted in local culture.