A confident debut about the troubled adolescence of a girl in search of herself.

Literary fiction

At first sight, the thirty-year-old writer Dorota Ambrožová appears to be tackling a well-worn literary theme with her novella The Last Summer. We follow the protagonist Hana between the ages of fifteen and nineteen, a period when she experiences the same things as many other young women. She doesn’t see eye to eye with her parents, she is discovering her own sexuality, and she has run-ins with school teachers. Moreover, she is in love with an older man, and although they embark on a relationship, it holds no future. However, what makes The Last Summer different is the way in which Dorota Ambrožová works with these themes. She has discovered a natural and extremely convincing style, which changes as Hana gets older and matures. And most importantly, this debut author has created a very believable protagonist who might act like a cynical girl who doesn’t care about anything, but who in fact is affected by many of the situations in this vulnerable period of her life.

Dorota Ambrožová (1994) studied radio and television dramaturgy and screenwriting at Janáček Academy of Performing Arts in Brno. She has two sons, and she lives and works in Olomouc. Poslední léto (The Last Summer, 2024) is her literary debut.