Prose

The heroine of Petra Hůlová’s new novel comes to Bohemia in order to earn some money. Olga’s story is testimony to the tough life in a foreign country. The storyline attempts to come to terms with stereotypes concerning not only Ukrainians, Czech employers and non-profit organisations, but also the “Gastarbeiter novel” genre, which reduces the lives of its characters to struggle for decent material existence and family happiness. All involved are depicted in a slightly ironic tone. The heroine is no cookie-cutter victim of the “bad Czechs” and through Olga’s story we also learn about her Ukrainian past and the broader community of Prague immigrants. In the end, everything turns out slightly different than what it seemed…