The first lady of Czech literature for children and young adults has produced a superb thriller for adults. Where is Kazmenia?

Crime/Detective, Literary fiction, Thriller  |  English sample translation available

The political thriller is the latest genre to be tackled by this novelist with intergenerational appeal. The murder of an investigative journalist critical of Russia, its politics and business is the detonator of this thriller, which, in the words of the author, reflects the current tide of history. This thoroughly contemporary social novel focuses on uncovering aspects which society prefers to ignore. Events during a single week leading up to the European Parliamentary elections are captured through carefully drawn characters and relationships, and interwoven with a secret whose disclosure could alter the course of history – conspiracy is therefore essential, even in the fictitious post-Soviet country of Kazmenia. Iva Procházková’s style of narration is unadorned and straightforward.

Iva Procházková (1953) is a novelist and scriptwriter, a respected author of literature for children and young adults as well as novels for adults and plays. She spent her childhood in Prague. After graduating from the Jan Neruda Grammar School, she was unable to continue studying for political reasons. She had a number of different jobs: for example, working as a cook and a cleaner. In 1983 she emigrated with her husband (the director Ivan Pokorný) and children to Austria. She spent eleven years in exile there and then in Germany. She wrote plays and books, primarily for children and young adults. She writes in Czech and German. Some of her books have been awarded prestigious literary prizes in the Czech Republic and Germany and translated into many languages.