Reviewed on Richard & Judy on Wednesday 20 February 2008.
This is a gripping novel split distinctly in to three parts. The first tells of the narrator’s childhood growing up in the US, the son of Czech immigrants, trying to balance life as an American while trying to understand his Czech heritage. The second part finds the narrator moving to Prague to find out more about his parents and what happened in their past, with the third part being told as “fiction†as the narrator forms his ideas of what happened in his parents past. Sensitively written and a joy to read.
A clandestine love affair is kindled during the dark days of the Nazi occupation of Prague; its consequences reverberate through the decades and across thousands of miles, with tragic results.
This is a story about memory and concealed histories, and about the way that the most fiercely-held secrets of the past eventually force their way to the surface. It begins with a boy, the child of Czech immigrants to the US, who is brought up on the ancient myths, and on the folktales of his parents' homeland. As he grows older, he becomes aware that the one story he hasn't been told is what his parents did during the war.
It is only as an adult, when he makes a journey back to Czechoslovakia, that he discovers their part in the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, the notorious 'butcher of Prague'. Embedded at the heart of this gripping history, is powerful love story - of a tragic passion and an enduring commitment. Plotted with all the intensity of a thriller, this intelligent and moving novel has what it takes to be a readers' favourite and a contemporary classic.
