An exceptional debut novel which examines estrangement, language, art, ill-fated love, and the role stories play in our lives.

Literary fiction

In her debut novel, Emma Kausc explores some of the great literary themes, such as memory, the way in which we tell stories, and the art of writing itself, all against the backdrop of two of the autofictional narrator’s failed relationships. Emma the protagonist, a woman in her thirties who navigates the globalized world like a fish in water, has recently buried her mother, while she also has to contend with the mysterious disappearance of her girlfriend, a photographer called Alyona. In addition, Emma is searching for her place in the world between London, Prague and California, between two relationships, and between festering intellectual reflection and intuition. In her critically acclaimed book, Emma Kausc poses a number of crucial questions which the reader is at liberty to ponder over, but as her narrative confirms, none of them can be answered with any certainty. It is this, coupled with a refined and sophisticated style, which makes Plot Disruption one of the most outstanding Czech novels of recent years.

The novel won the Literary Critics Award 2024 in the prose category.

Emma Kausc is from Prague. She studied contemporary culture and critical theory at King’s College London. In 2018, her poetry collection Cykly (Cycles, 2017) was shortlisted for the Jiří Orten Award. Plot Disruption is her first book of fiction.