Literary fiction
A novel inspired by the author’s stays in China
The same decisive expression “hours of lead” will determine the fate of several families of different generations from various European countries and backgrounds. A Czech business man, his wife and teenage daughter, a Russian diplomat, a French writer, a student of calligraphy, a chef and many other protagonists with their family traumas, midlife crisis, burnouts and puberty. Pilgrims and travelers who have gone to China to sort out their lives, yet their world continues falling apart. They loose something irreversibly and they can not understand what it is. Looking for a solid point in their past life, yet unable to know what to recall.
As in their private stories, there is a dramatic break, something essential is coming undone and changing the fate of us all. The old world of Europe is over and no one understands what is in store. As every character in the novel experiences their marginal situaltion as an existential and personal nemesis, we also live the “leaden hour” toghether. People are retreating themselves and the era of resigned apathy and demoralization begins, the era of everyday gray totalitarian consumerism. Yet there is still a chance to act. You just need to read and follow the signs.