This time Odysseus is not returning home to restore an empire but to face the changes which are inevitably coming. And he returns in a novel that displays a unique imagination together with an inventive humour and narrative style.

Literary fiction

Whitsun is the story of the inhabitants of a city cut off from civilization, where certain physical and social rules do not apply. The people have been living for generations in a magical world they believe to be normal. It is only with the advent of the 20th century and the development of government that they are forced to abandon these extraordinary customs.

Although set one hundred years ago, this is not a historical novel. The story is more of a universal parable about a turning point in civilization, when instead of the promise of a brighter future, the new age forces us to relinquish what was good and accept a series of changes for the worse. This serious and topical theme, however, comes in the form of a story which sparkles with linguistic and situational humour, and which sets itself apart with its original ideas and allusions to dozens of literary works. The result is an incredibly sophisticated, playful, as well as intellectually diverse picture of a world forced to renounce miracles and become rational and standardized. It is the literary debut which shows that magical realism also has its place in Central Europe.

Miroslav Hlaučo (1967) studied clinical pharmacy in Bratislava, followed by directing at Theatre Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague and film studies at Charles University. After a short spell in the arts, he has been working for several years in medical research and the development of cellular biotechnology.