Gerta
A Novel
Published on 1. February 2021
Book
Hardback
460 pages
978-1-5420-4315-1 (ISBN)
Description
The award-winning novel by Czech author Katerina Tuckova-her first to be translated into English-about the fate of one woman and the pursuit of forgiveness in a divided postwar world.
1945. Allied forces liberate Nazi-occupied Brno, Moravia. For Gerta Schnirch, daughter of a Czech mother and a German father aligned with Hitler, it's not deliverance; it's a sentence. She has been branded an enemy of the state. Caught in the changing tides of a war that shattered her family-and her innocence-Gerta must obey the official order: she, along with all ethnic Germans, is to be expelled from Czechoslovakia. With nothing but the clothes on her back and an infant daughter, she's herded among thousands, driven from the only home she's ever known. But the injustice only makes Gerta stronger, more empowered, and more resolved to seek justice. Her journey is a relentless quest for a seemingly impossible forgiveness. And one day, she will return.
Spanning decades and generations, Katerina Tuckova's breathtaking novel illuminates a long-neglected episode in Czech history. One of exclusion and prejudice, of collective shame versus personal guilt, all through the eyes of a charismatic woman whose courage will affect all the lives she's touched. Especially that of the daughter she loved, fought for, shielded, and would come to inspire.
1945. Allied forces liberate Nazi-occupied Brno, Moravia. For Gerta Schnirch, daughter of a Czech mother and a German father aligned with Hitler, it's not deliverance; it's a sentence. She has been branded an enemy of the state. Caught in the changing tides of a war that shattered her family-and her innocence-Gerta must obey the official order: she, along with all ethnic Germans, is to be expelled from Czechoslovakia. With nothing but the clothes on her back and an infant daughter, she's herded among thousands, driven from the only home she's ever known. But the injustice only makes Gerta stronger, more empowered, and more resolved to seek justice. Her journey is a relentless quest for a seemingly impossible forgiveness. And one day, she will return.
Spanning decades and generations, Katerina Tuckova's breathtaking novel illuminates a long-neglected episode in Czech history. One of exclusion and prejudice, of collective shame versus personal guilt, all through the eyes of a charismatic woman whose courage will affect all the lives she's touched. Especially that of the daughter she loved, fought for, shielded, and would come to inspire.
Reviews / Votes
A 2021 World Literature Today Notable Translation"The story is an unvarnished chronicle of a young woman doing what she must to protect herself and her daughter." -Historical Novel Society
"I think [Gerta] is beautiful and relevant. One of its basic themes is the expulsion of the German population from Czechoslovakia after the Second World War, but as a whole the novel carries a much broader theme that seems crucial to me today-that the mutual problems between people and nations will not be solved simply by an acknowledgment, and not even by an apology. An apology is just the beginning. We can admit our own guilt, take it on ourselves, but an even more difficult and important step, which is not spoken of so much and for which there are no laws or entitlements, is forgiveness-whether toward others or toward ourselves. For me, Gerta is a book about forgiveness." -Alice Nellis, director of the Czech TV adaptation of Gerta (English translation by Veronique Firkusny)
Winner of the Magnesia Litera Readers' award; short-listed for the Jiri Orten Award, the Josef Skvorecky Award, and Magnesia Litera in the prose category.
"A great book...Immediately after reading, [Gerta] is unforgettable...Although she certainly did not plan for it, Katerina Tuckova wrote a novel that should be required reading." -Jan Huebsch, Lidovky
"The central story of Gerta Schnirch can be captured in one word, the cliched adjective strong. Its strength lies particularly in its vivid depiction of frightful experiences immediately after World War II, experiences resembling terrible nightmares. To achieve this, the author does not need cheap effects or explicit, detailed, or shocking descriptions." -Petr Hrtanek, iLiteratura
"The author describes, with a great writing talent and empathy for human suffering, Gerta's life from the moment she stood at her mother's grave in 1942...We have read of various anabases, but few are as dreadful as the one depicted with deep pity by Katerina Tuckova. And so forcefully described as if she were Gerta, experiencing it all firsthand." -Milena Nyklova, Knizni novinky
"[Gerta] masterfully fulfills one of the potential and important functions of literature. It is a means of self-reflection for a particular community, which is the Czech nation in this case." -Pavel Janousek, Host
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Seattle
United States
Publishing group
Amazon Publishing
ISBN-13
978-1-5420-4315-1 (9781542043151)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Katerina Tuckova is a Czech playwright, publicist, biographer, art historian, exhibition curator, and bestselling author of Gerta and The Zitkova Goddesses. She has won several literary awards, including the Magnesia Litera Award (for both Gerta and The Zitkova Goddesses), the Brno City Award for literature, the Josef Skvorecky Award, and the Czech Bestseller Award. Katerina is also the recipient of the Freedom, Democracy, and Human Rights Award by the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes, and of the Premio Libro d'Europa at the Book Fair in Salerno, Italy. Between 2015 and 2018, she was a founder and first president of the Meeting Brno festival, focusing on international and intercultural dialogue. Katerina Tuckova currently lives in Prague and Brno, Czech Republic. Her books have been translated into seventeen languages. Gerta is her first to be translated into English. In December 2020, her novel Bila Voda will be published in Czech. For more information, visit www.katerina-tuckova.cz/en/.