ADU LT FICTION
Habermann written by josef urban book parameters: 130 × 210 mm, 192 pages, hard cover
GERMAN TRANSLATION AVAILABLE
adult fiction | novels
AWARDS • In 2002 the screenplay of Habermann won the Sazka Prize for Best Unrealized Screenplay, conferred by the Czech Film and Television Academy at the Český lev [Czech Lion] awards. • Habermann was awarded the Bavarian State Film Prize.
Life in the Sudetenland was never idyllic. The firm friendship of Czech forester Jan Březina and German miller August Habermann is squeezed between the millstones of the Nazi Occupation. The time urges the people of the Czech-German borderlands to choose one side over the other; only those of strong character are able to stay above the fray. One such person is wealthy mill owner August Habermann, who employs Czechs and Germans without prejudice. During the Occupation Habermann comes under tremendous pressure, in spite of which he creates a protective shield for all his employees and refuses to submit to Nazi ideology. Yet the charged atmosphere of the time proves too much even for August Habermann. After the war August’s devoted wife Herta cannot prevent people helped by her husband during the Occupation from taking revenge on all Germans. Habermann disappears in mysterious circumstances, and his family is expelled from the mill and sent into German exile. This story of love and betrayal, set in the north Moravian Sudetenland between 1938 and 1946, became a bestseller soon after it was published. It has been through several editions, and it has been adapted for the cinema. Most significantly, it sparked serious discussion on the question of collective guilt and punishment. “... I have read in the press that your book Habermann is controversial. This is not so. We have not yet rid ourselves of our monochrome view of the world. Dumbed-down theses and ‘little-Czech’ half-truths. I hope that your novel will open the eyes of those who still do not see. In order to understand ourselves as well as our history, we need to know the truth.I wish you great success and courage in your work as an author. “ (Václav Havel, 2001) josef urban (1965)
is a graduate of the Faculty of Science of Charles University in Prague who represented Czechoslovakia as a wildwater canoeist; he is an author and screenwriter who treats themes of recent history. After the Velvet Revolution he was the first Czech writer to address one of the most controversial chapters in the country’s recent past – the post-war expulsion of the German population. His prose portrays and recalls a time when the righteous anger of victims of war was mixed with the basest human instincts, a time that left indelible traces of blood on the national histories of the Czech lands and Germany. On the completion and publication of his debut novel Habermannův mlýn/ Habermann , in 2001, Josef Urban had no idea of the interest it would attract. At this point Czech-German relations were overshadowed by the disorderly transfer of Sudeten Germans; the subject of the transfer was taboo in some official quarters and repudiated by some citizens, especially members of the older generation. The novel was embraced by the media and members of the younger generation unencumbered by the prejudices of their elders. In 2002 the successful novice author became a screenwriter, as he adapted his novel as a film of the same name. In 2010 the third edition of the book was placed sixth in the Czech Republic’s bestseller list for the year. The film of Habermann , directed by Juraj Herz , was screened in cinemas to great acclaim in 2010. In a nationwide survey it was declared the fifth-best feature film of the past twenty years. The State Fund for Cinematography has included it in its ‘Golden Fund’ series for treasures of Czech cinema. Urban is currently working as producer and screenwriter on a film adaptation of The Times of Paradise.
NEW! NEW!
written by josef urban book parameters: 145 × 205 mm, 312 pages, hard cover
THE STORY IS BEING MADE INTO A FILM
This time the author of successful books on historical themes takes the reader to the wild rocks of the area known as the Bohemian Paradise in the 1930s and the years of the Occupation, creating a work of fiction from the true story of the legendary climber Joska Smítka. In his new book Josef Urban tells a story of strength and the price of friendship, weakness, predestination and honour, longing, dangerous climbs on sandstone rock faces, and the winding road to freedom. Following the occupation of Czechoslovakia by the Nazis, Joska Smítka is put into forced labour. He escapes and hides among the rocks close to where he grew up. In his solitude he dreams of Vlasta, a writer he met before the war; along with his perilous climbs, she becomes the mainstay of Joska’s survival. As an outlaw he pays dearly for fleeting moments of harmony and the risks he takes in finding his way to the woman of his dreams. This story of friendship and rope-sharing leads us to the very essence of human existence and shows us defiance in the face of recognized authorities. A clash out on the rocks with the head of the Prague Gestapo is a fateful moment in the story. Joska’s contempt for the occupying powers irritates its leading representatives to the point of hysteria. “For me Joska will always be a boy with a blank state and an unfulfilled destiny,” says Josef Urban, the author of the book and the screenplay of the same name. “His opposition to any kind of manipulation was superbly suicidal. Quite simply, he went his own way – in the rocks, in love, in war.” Images of the rock pinnacles of the Bohemian Paradise frame a rugged, romantic tale of heroes of that time – a story that is extraordinary, timeless and thought-provoking, and an affirmation of values for which it makes sense to live and fight. The publication of this novel coincides with the 70th anniversary of the defeat of Nazism in Europe. The story is being made into a film, directed by acclaimed Croatian filmmaker Lordan Zafranović.
Seven Days of Sin written by josef urban book parameters: 145 × 205 mm, 240 pages, hard cover
The story is a loose continuation of the novel Habermann. It describes the events of the first seven days after the war in the Sudetenland. This book was a success both from a literary, artistic point of view and in terms of its reception by a broad readership; it achieved a reviewer rating of 95%. The book forms the basis of the screenplay of the film of the same name.
adult fiction | novels
The Times of Paradise
It Serves Me Right written by radka třeštíková book parameters: 115 × 185 mm, 424 pages, hard cover
Boris, a self-centred painter with little consideration for others, divorces his wife and leaves the home they share for the flat of his friend Viktor. This radical change forces him to reassess and take stock of his life. Slowly Boris comes to realize all his failures, and he makes somewhat clumsy attempts to correct his mistakes. As he seeks a way back to his grown-up son, the past comes back at him like a boomerang. And at this very moment he crosses paths with sixteen-year-old Erika.
It’s Raining Sea
NEW! NEW! written by radka třeštíková book parameters: 115 × 185 mm, 424 pages, hard cover
adult fiction | novels
A psychological drama about pain, fear, unconditional love, questions and the answers we’re all looking for in life. Hanka’s world is shaken for the first time by the unexpected divorce of her parents and the court’s ruling of joint custody. Her father’s new family includes Aleš, the son of Hanka’s father’s new wife, whom she’s supposed to look upon as a brother. The thing is, she falls in love with him – which is bad news, because he sees her above all as a sister. But this is the least of Hanka’s problems. The deaths of first her father then her mother cause her to lose her bearings badly, and as she struggles to cope with it all, she needs someone she can lean on. At first she is helped by her grandmother, whose life has been like a foreshadowing of Hanka’s own. Then she meets the much older Hubert, who would surely bend over backwards for her. But did they really meet by chance, and does Hubert have aims of his own in mind?
radka třeštíková
was born in 1981 in South Moravia, although she has lived in Prague since she was nineteen. Following her graduation from the Faculty of Law of Prague’s Charles University, she worked for seven years as a corporate lawyer. At present she is on maternity leave with her daughter Ela; she writes in her free time. Some readers will have encountered her earlier work for the blog of Respekt magazine (www.respekt.cz) and www.psychologie.cz as well as her occasional contributions to Elle magazine. Dobře mi tak/ It Serves Me Right was her first novel.
NEW! NEW!
written by richard sklář book parameters: 160 × 230 mm, 472 pages, hard cover
Every old house has its secrets . . . 1941 Reinhard Heydrich assumes the post of Deputy Reich-Protector, and Johann Proske – a senior civil servant nearing his sixties who works in the office of the mayor of Ostrava – begins to write his diary in the comfort of a luxury villa on Sadová Street. Although this bureaucrat appears timid, he is in fact playing a game of duplicity: he is hiding the original owner of the villa, his whole family and a valuable collection of art . . . 2013 Roberta, known to her friends as Bo, is an estate agent in her fifties who has been around the block a few times and has wit, intelligence and good judgment. Together with her ex-husband she owns a successful business. Their shared past reaches much further, however – to Bosnia, where twenty years ago they worked as elite agents for the Ministry of the Interior. Until now they believed that the adventure in their lives was behind them . . . Their company is selling the villa on Sadová Street, in which a mysterious potential buyer expresses an interest. As they look into his identity, they uncover a suspiciously high number of references to their Bosnian past. Someone savage and ruthless has decided to find them and take his revenge. A game begins that can have only one winner . . . Two stories, two fates, past and present. And a mystery that binds everything together . . . A splendid cocktail of suspense, literary fiction, historical events and real figures from Ostrava in the days of the Protectorate.
THRILLER
A Vote for a Killer Hlas pro vraha
-----------
written by olina táborská book parameters: 125 × 205 mm, 464 pages, hard cover
For almost sixty years the death of the author’s mother remained shrouded in mystery. In 1953 the sudden death of twenty-twoyear-old Marie, allegedly as a result of town-gas poisoning, caused quite a stir. She left behind three children, the middle of whom, Anna, was unceasing in her attempts to discover what actually happened. Anna’s story charts life in totalitarian Czechoslovakia from 1948 to the opening of the State Security Police archives in 2008, when finally she learned the truth. In the files she read about crimes of the 1950s, in which people who “threatened” the building of communism were simply eliminated by means of murder; her mother was just such a “threat”. The files even contained the names of the likely killers. Anna’s shock was compounded when she realized that one of the men had later become a deputy of parliament for whom she herself had voted.
Olina Táborská (1951), má
Olina Táborská
na rodném listu uvedeno Oldřiška. Vědí to však jen nejbližší příbuzní. Když se vdala, začala k novému příjmení používat i nové jméno, které se objevovalo přes třicet let pod jejími články v novinách a časopisech.
Téměř šedesát let byla smrt její matky zahalena tajemstvím
motto
NEW! NEW!
motto
Do pětadvaceti let žila na Zlínsku. Než si splnila životní sen a vystudovala žurnalistiku na Karlově univerzitě v Praze, prošla různými profesemi. Vlivem nepříznivých rodinných okolností má ve svém životopise, končícím posty šéfredaktorky anebo zástupkyně, uvedeno jako první zaměstnání mytí nádobí v závodní kuchyni. Potom
adult fiction | novels
The Villa on Sadová Street
On the Hill written by jiří březina book parameters: 125 × 205 mm, 376 pages, hard cover
AWARDED
BEST CZECH CRIME NOVEL
2013
adult fiction | crime fiction
FILM RIGHTS OPTIONED
In this unorthodox detective story the mystery arises not from a dead body, but a battered soul. On a hill above a small mountain village called Výtoň, an angel appears to nine-year-old Marie: the wind howls, the whole house shakes under the gusts. It all happens in an instant, but also for an eternity… Twelve years later, Milan, a journalism student, sets out for the place that has now become a pilgrimage site. He’s there to investigate the story and interview witnesses, so he can write his thesis on the Miracle of Výtoň. During his research, he uncovers some clues that indicate the apparition may have happened quite differently. Did little Marie really see an angel, or was it something of this world? The Church refuses to recognize the miracle, and Marie, the only true witness, is stuck working in a dive bar. Stricken with inexplicable anxiety, a trip down memory lane is the last thing she wants. A meeting with Helena, a former policewoman who left Prague behind for Výtoň, opens Milan’s eyes. From her experience as a cop, she believes the child must have undergone some unspeakable trauma. The miracle must be a way of protecting her fragile psyche from acknowledging what really occurred. What happened on that hill? Is Marie a prophet or a victim? Working together, Helena and Milan might just uncover the truth. “Several people recollect that after the alleged apparition, Marie showed various signs of psychological trauma. Somebody hurt that poor little girl, Mr. Rovenský, somebody hurt her so badly that she had never recovered from it. Now once again, tell me why her mother tried to hide her from you?” He lifted his hand to try to stop her. She went on. “How is it possible that a woman who came to know you so well during her youth would hide her child from you? Why did you used to wait for Marie after school, and why did you always disappear when her mother showed up? Why did the girl attract you so much?” She noticed that a single tear is running down his wrinkled face. He looked as if he were suffocating. Hold on for a few more seconds and he will break, she told herself. She did not like this technique, but sometimes one had no other option. Tell the interrogated person everything you know about him, show him how vast your knowledge is. Either he will realize that it is time to give in, or he will has just acquire invaluable information for his disposal. “I think I know the answer, Mr. Rovenský. Her mother knew something about you. Something from the time when you, as you call it, worked with youth. She knew that you liked children in a special way. That’s why she wanted to protect her daughter from you. But you just couldn’t help yourself; she was too sweet to resist. One day you took her. And when they found her, dazed, shocked, you came back and made up this fairy tale of the mystical apparition.” …. “Tell me the truth.” Rovenský looked out of the dusted window for a while. He pulled a crumpled handkerchief out of his trousers and blew his nose. And then he started speaking.
NEW! NEW! written by jiří březina book parameters: 125 × 205 mm, 248 pages, hard cover
Jiří Březina impressed readers and critics alike with his debut Na kopci/ On the Hill, for which he won the prestigious Jiří Marek Prize for the best Czech crime novel of 2013. In his new thriller Promlučení/ Keeping Silent he touches on the sensitive issue of the expulsion of the German population from the Czech borderlands at the end of the Second World War. Tomáš Volf is a self-confident metalhead with a mane of hair reaching halfway down his back; he’s also an outsider and troublemaker dogged by problems with his bosses. Now he is working in the police archives, waiting for a second chance. Having happened upon a record of two murders committed in a practically deserted village in the borderlands immediately after the opening of the frontier to the West, he attempts by his own initiative to uncover the perpetrator. In the 1990s Novotný, then a junior criminal investigator, was assigned to the investigation of the murders, which proved unsuccessful. Since then he has climbed high on the political ladder, and he now aspires to a ministerial post. Tomáš gets in touch with Novotný and picks his brain about events twenty-five years earlier, attempting to glean information that has mysteriously gone missing from the files. But can he trust a man whose rise to political power comes with such a lousy reputation? And how deep into the past will he have to go in order to discover who let the two murders pass? Keeping Silent is more than an intriguing story: it raises questions of guilt, punishment and justice. Although crimes can be hushed up, memories and grievances can’t.
jiří březina (1980)
was born in České Budějovice and studied at Charles University. Influenced by Scandinavian detective fiction, he set out to write a mystery that was darker than typical Czech fare but without the brutality so often found in Nordic fiction. This novel is his first literary work. Presently he writes copy for webpages, while also working tirelessly on his next story.
adult fiction | crime fiction
Keeping Silent
The Island of the Grey Monks
NEW!
written by michaela klevisová book parameters: 125 × 205 mm, 376 pages, hard cover
The fourth crime thriller by a two-time winner of the Jiří Marek Prize. Eleven years have passed since the murder of a young woman in strange circumstances in the dunes of the remote Dutch island of Schiermonnikoog, whose deserted sandy beaches are beaten by the north wind; still her killer has not been found. TV reporter Johan Rutten decides to feature the case in the first of a series of documentaries on unsolved murders – but shortly after he arrives on the island, Rutten, too, is murdered. Is the same perpetrator responsible for both murders? Johan Rutten was a wealthy man whose death might suit a number of people – such as his Czech wife, a legal translator who stands to inherit all his property . . . It is at her instigation that criminal investigator Josef Bergman comes to the island. Bergman is expecting to spend a holiday on Schiermonnikoog, where he hopes to clear his mind of worries and reach a decision of great importance. But very soon and against his will he is drawn into the complicated case.
The Lonely House written by michaela klevisová
adult fiction | crime fiction
book parameters: 125 × 205 mm, 296 pages, hard cover
AWARDED
BEST CZECH CRIME NOVEL
2012
A mystery taking place in the romantic yet grim setting of an old mill and riding stable. The body of a young woman is found in the forest behind a remote village. Two similar murders occurred in Prague recently, so it is no wonder that the sleepy little village has begun to panic. Has a serial killer from the capital moved to town? After Nela breaks up with her boyfriend Martin, the designer stays in the old mill she wanted to reconstruct with him. Nela cannot stop thinking about the murder, especially since the last person to be seen with the victim was Martin. The lead detecive on the case is the charismatic inspector Bergman, who begins to untangle the knotted relationships of the townspeople. Such a small village cannot hide so many passions and problems for long. Soukup, the horse trainer, has enough problems of his own with his stable, not to mention his disenchanted wife and daughter, a single mother of a teenage son. The businessman Jindra is trying to keep his marriage and love affair in balance, even though his mistress is tired of sharing him. Bergman will learn a lot at Lenin’s, the bar run by the ever curious Indy, but there are secrets both big and small that must be uncovered before the crime can be solved.
written by michaela klevisová book parameters: 125 × 205 mm, 362 pages, hard cover
TV producer Anna Valentová is a controversial figure – people love her or hate her. Anna wants to be the best, but her hardearned reputation is crumbling before her eyes: her daughter is missing and someone is blackmailing Anna after discovering that she has been firing writers once she has stolen their story ideas. When Anna is found with a pitchfork in her back at a company retreat, charismatic inspector Bergman must explore her relationships and affairs to solve the murder.
The Steps of a Murderer AWARDED
Michaela Klevisová
written by michaela klevisová detektivka
niverzity Karlovy ším koníčkem Kniha Kroky vraha řipravuje další
o.cz
adult fiction | crime fiction
mladá žena. , kdo s ní před bala její dceři e Klára Kellerová nedaleko místa pektor Josef e staré hříchy,
The Story Thief
motto
Kličkovala mezi stromy, brodila se závějemi suchého listí a zrychlovala tempo, dokud ji v boku nezačalo bodat vyčerpáním. Sluncem prosvětlený kraj lesa se přibližoval příliš pomalu. Až teď jí došlo, jakou hrůzu viděla, a ramena se jí zatřásla pláčem. Proč nikde nikdo není?
motto
BEST CZECH CRIME NOVEL
2008
book parameters: 125 × 205 mm, 362 pages, hard cover
A young woman was strangled in a Prague park last night. Reporter Julie Kellerová appears to be the last one who spoke to the victim. Not only that, the victim bears a striking resemblance to Julie’s daughter, Klára. Is it a coincidence or did the murderer mistake her for someone else? It is up to charming inspector Josef Bergman to solve the puzzle and reveal the secrets of the past.
michaela klevisová
was born in Prague in 1976. Having graduated in Journalism from Prague’s Charles University, she has worked in that profession since 1997. Her favourite hobby is travel; most of all she likes to visit the countries of northern Europe – her journey through Finnish Lapland made the greatest impression on her. She became keen on horse racing while still a child and continues to take a close interest in it. In 2008 her first novel Kroky vraha/ The Steps of a Murderer (2007) was awarded the Jiří Marek Prize for the year’s best crime thriller by the Czech Association of Authors of Crime Literature (AIEP). Her second thriller, Zlodějka příběhů/ The Story Thief, appeared in 2009, followed by a third, Dům na samotě/ The Solitary House, in 2011. In 2012 Michaela Klevisová tried her hand at another genre, publishing a volume of short stories with the title Čekání na kocoura/ Waiting for the Tomcat.
Short Stories written by zdeněk svěrák book parameters: 145 × 205 mm, 112 pages, hard cover sold: Hungarian, Slovene
This collection of humorous and playful short stories will make you laugh and cry at the same time. Zdeněk Svěrák with his gentle and intelligent humour will be your ideal companion. You will be able to identify easily with the heroes of Svěrák´s short stories because his inspiration is life itself and the situations his heroes have to go through are essentially common. This set of short stories is undoubtedly one of the hidden gems of every library. Published in 2008, SHORT STORIES immediately became a national sensation, selling more than 55.000 cps in the first three months and 110.000 cps sold after the first three years on the market. In 2011, Zdeněk Svěrák’s second book of stories simply named NEW SHORT STORIES repeated the success.
New Short Stories written by zdeněk svěrák
100 000+ cps sold
book parameters: 145 × 205 mm, 120 pages, hard cover sold: Hungarian
adult fiction | humour
“I asked myself what exactly is it that I do when I write a short story? It is as if I found a stone and created a cherry around it. Or a plum. Depends on what I can find. The heart of every story is something I found lying on the street. It could have been an exciting experience someone told me about, it could have been a sentence I overheard in a restaurant. My job is to come up with what preceded and followed. I am trying to find the right words and return the pulp and juice to a long gone fruit. I hope you will enjoy it. Bon appetit!”
over
50 000 cps
sold in ten weeks
NEW! written by zdeněk svěrák book parameters: 145 × 205 mm, 344 pages, hard cover
The film Kolya won Oscar and has been seen by 3 million viewers
A retelling in prose of the screenplays for the films Kolya, The Elementary School and Empties, plus Barefoot across the Field, a memoir of the author’s childhood which has yet to be filmed. The film Kolya was a great success at home and abroad. In the Czech Republic it was seen by 1,346,669 cinema-goers (making it the most popular Czech film of all time); it won six Český lev [Czech Lion] awards, including for Best Film. Abroad, it won an Oscar (so far the only Czech film to do so) and a Golden Globe award for Best Foreign Language Film. It has been shown in forty countries, to about three million viewers. The Elementary School was shortlisted for an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.
Barefoot across the Field written by zdeněk svěrák book parameters: 145 × 205 mm, 96 pages, hard cover
“This is neither a chronicle of my childhood nor of myfamily. I wanted it to be a work of fiction. The authors of such literature notonly remember what they saw or heard but also make things up and fantasise, sothat their stories are worth reading. In this book I am telling the story of alittle boy, moved from a big city to the country and how it affected his soul.It is both me and not me. The book is a mosaic in which some stones are realand some are just fake. However, you should not be able to tell which is which.”
zdeněk svěrák (1936)
is Czech actor, humorist and script writer. He is one of the most popular personalities in Czech culture. His work contains more than 300 musical texts, plays and more than ten movies. Among his scripts are the Academy Award winning movie Kolya and the Academy award nominee The Elementary School, both directed by his son Jan Svěrák. With his close friend Ladislav Smoljak, he created the fictional personality – universal genius, inventor, sportsman, criminalist, poet, writer and philosopher – Jara Cimrman. Zdeněk Svěrák also founded a charity organization Paraple (Umbrella) which is helping paralyzed people.
adult fiction | humour
Film Stories
Thanks for every New Morning
40 000+ cps sold
ka a který
ma. chvilku na mě
l a pak náhle, e líbat a já
ené oči, máte krk ěrka.“ Měl takový krk.)
tto.cz
book parameters: 115 × 185 mm, 136 pages, hard cover sold: Polish
Halina Pawlowská
motto
This bittersweet novel tells the story of the Hakunděk family, who moves toCzechoslovakia from Transcarpathian Ukraine. The plot unfolds over the twenty years following the Soviet occupation, during the time of “Normalization.” The protagonist is Olga, who experiences her first love and disappointment, anddreams of studying screenwriting despite her questionable background— to getpast the communist gatekeepers and into film school she will need an iron willand 104 signatures attesting that “her uncle was not a bourgeois nationalist.”Her father also plays a crucial role in the story, an authoritative andambitious man, a poet and pensioner, who holds never-ending parties in theirapartment for friends and family from the Ukraine. The author injects humor andtenderness into this tale of tough times and difficult moments. The book inspired the famous and successful and award winning film of the same name.
spisovatelka a scenáristka
HALINA PAWLOWSKÁ
nic nebude. ejnojmenný
DÍKY ZA KAŽDÉ NOVÉ RÁNO
written by halina pawlowská
ypráví á touží
motto
BESTSELLER
Narodila se ukrajinskému básníkovi a české učitelce. Vystudovala FAMU, obor scenáristika a dramaturgie, napsala asi dvacet televizních komedií, nejznámější z nich byla komedie Sardinky aneb život jedné rodinky, příběh na motivy Saroyanovy povídky Románek se vším možným nebo dětská televizní hra Róza, strážné strašidlo. Je autorkou i filmových scénářů. Mezi její nejúspěšnější filmy patří kultovní komedie Vrať se do hrobu, komedie Můj hříšný muž, Evo, vdej se a Díky za každé nové ráno. Za tento scénář byla oceněna i americkou nadací Sundance, kterou založil Robert Redford. Sklízí úspěchy i ve světě novin a časopisů. Byla jedním ze zakladatelů deníku Metropolitan. Pod holandským vedením založila časopis Story. Později se stala majitelkou a vydavatelkou časopisu Šťastný Jim, který získal ocenění časopis roku. Založila též časopis Glanc, je jeho tváří a pravidelně do něj přispívá svými povídkami a fejetony.
Made into the award winning film: • SUNDANCE film festival Award • MOSCOW film festival Award • Czech Lion in 4 categories
Desperate Women Take Desperate Measures
150 000+ cps sold
written by halina pawlowská book parameters: 115 × 185 mm, 128 pages, hard cover
adult fiction | humour
sold: Polish, German
This story of a woman’s yearning for love, an equal partner, and a happy family is told with intelligent humor and remorseless self-deprecation. The heroine, originally a shop assistant, studies for a psychology degree in order to be seen as an equal to her architect husband. He, however, leaves her since he feels neglected during her studies and decides he wants a simple life with an uncomplicated wife. Any attempt our heroine makes to find new love results in a fiasco.
written by halina pawlowská book parameters: 115 × 185 mm, 256 pages, hard cover
There’s nothing more beautiful than when an elephant, touched by your affection, lowers its trunk; and there is nothing more ridiculous than when a zaftig white woman falls madly in love in Africa… Here even the hunter can become the prey. New stories about love and passion from the hilarious Halina Pawlowská. Frank was good-looking, and because he was good-looking my voice went up several octaves and I acted like a fragile little girl– then I broke my leg and got attacked by a monkey. That was when I lost my last shred of hope for seducing the beautiful African. It was clear that the only way for me to ensnare Frank’s heart was by being a cool friend....
Bestselling
author in Czech Republic and in Slovakia
halina pawlovská (1955)
over
1 million copies
sold
is a famous author and screenwriter. She was born to a Ukrainian poet and a Czech teacher, and studied screenwriting and dramaturgy at FAMU. She has written dozens of TV comedies and film scripts; she is the author of 24 books. Much of her literature stems from her unique childhood, and she often writes about love and marriage. She mostly writes short stories and feuilletons drawn from her life. She has founded a number of dailies and magazines. She has received great acclaim for her work. She has won the TýTý TV award twice for her talk show Banánové rybičky, which Czech Television ran from 1999 – 2007. Her film Thanks for Every New Morning won the Czech Lion (the top Czech film award) in four different categories. The script was even awarded a prize at Robert Redford’s Sundance Film Festival. She has won numerous awards for her books, even the award for the most widely read author in both the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
adult fiction | humour
Hunting in the Bush
Waiting for the Cat written by michaela klevisová book parameters: 115 × 185 mm, 192 pages, hard cover
Alice sets out on a winding journey to meet her daughter; Delfina no longer wants to be single; moving to the city has been hard for Théo; little David must come to terms with his parents’ divorce… but they all have one thing in common: their affection for cats. Fourteen sensitive tales about the relationships of people who are “catty” in a very different way. They will touch your heart and put a smile on your face.
The Montmartre Cat written by michaela klevisová
adult fiction | short novels
book parameters: 115 × 185 mm, 176 pages, hard cover
Veronika longs for adventure, and wants to experience something that happens once in a lifetime. In front of his girlfriend, Adam is embarrassed about his mother who loves animals more than people. Else has always wanted to have children, but her husband is against it. Sebastien once dreamed that he would be a famous musician and change the world, but instead he works as a nightguard and feels hopeless. The connection between these disparate characters, whom you may even recognize from your own life, is their love for cats. “They say that people who don’t like cats will come back in their next life as mice. Klevisová does not have to worry about this at all, she’s more likely to return as the cat queen. For her kittens, cats, and tomcats are heroes, instruments of therapy, the center of the world, the meaning of life, symbols of freedom, recipients of kindness, and weather vanes of human nature…” Kubíčková, MF Dnes
albatros media a. s.
The largest publishing house in the Czech Republic, rapidly expanding in the Slovak Republic as well, with a combined production of up to 1,400 titles a year. • • • • •
#1 publisher in the Czech Republic with 66 years’ history 1,000 + new titles each year – fiction and non-fiction publishing, distribution, readers club, e-shop 13 imprints covering all target groups from children to senior citizens increasing share of Czech and Slovak markets
CONTACTS
office address albatros media: Albatros Media a.s. Na Pankráci 30/1618 140 00 Prague Czech Republic phone : + 420 261 397 201 invoicing address: Albatros Media a.s. Na Pankráci 30/1618 140 00 Prague Czech Republic vat number: CZ28377141 www.albatrosmedia.cz/en/
foreign rights managers: Jana Cieslarová e - mail : jana.cieslarova@albatrosmedia.cz phone : +420 261 397 298