DESERT IN BOHEMIA A by Jill Paton Wals
It is 1945. Somewhere in Central Europe, in the aftermath of violence and confusion, a terrified and bloodstained young woman, Eliska, emerges from the forest to take refuge in an apparently abandoned castle. Soon she is joined by others - the idealistic Jiri, the sinister Slavomir and his partisans, and Count Michael Blansky, who is the castle's ancestral owner. But the war has changed things for ever. In a storm of ideological change, the existing order and the aristocratic heritage of ten generations are brushed aside by the arrival of Communism, and Count Michael must join the flood of refugees if he is to survive. He leaves behind a legacy which will entangle those involved for the next forty years in more ways than they can possibly imagine. As divided post-war Europe unravels around them, they must make what they can of lives buffeted by circumstance. For many, individual freedom is at best problematic. For better or worse, communities are destroyed, families uprooted, and the ties of trust, friendship and duty which bind them together are broken down by the implacably irresolvable forces at work. Told through the eyes of nine characters who live through the forty years b
'A shimmering, fabulous story..Tragic, convincing, moving this is a novel whose richness, complexity and, ultimately, optimism make the heart sing' The Times. 'Sinuously evocative...Masterfully told...Immensely ambitious, yet also immensely moving, A Desert in Bohemia deserves to follow Walsh's last novel, Knowledge of Angels, on to the Booker shortlist' Daily Mail. 'A moving, gripping, ultimately optimistic, and intensely satisfying novel. Beautifully constructed and written...wonderful' Harpers & Queen. 'A gripping story' Sunday Express. 'Serious, yet enchanting' Independent on Sunday. 'Immensely powerful...a broad sweep of a book' The Scotsman.
Jill Paton Walsh is the author of four previous adult novels: Lapsing, A School For Lovers, Knowledge of Angels, which was shortlisted for the 1994 Booker Prize, and The Serpentine Cave. She has also won many awards for her children's literature, including the Whitbread Prize, the Universe Prize and the Smarties Award. She lives in Cambridge.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780552998642 |
| ISBN 10 | 0552998648 |
| Title | DESERT IN BOHEMIA A |
| Author | Jill Paton Wals |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Transworld Publishers Ltd |
| Year published | 2001-09-01 |
| Number of pages | 336 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |