Gerta
2009
First Published
3.96
Average Rating
416
Number of Pages
The award-winning novel by Czech author Kateřina Tučková—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 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, Kateřina Tučková’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.
Avg Rating
3.96
Number of Ratings
7,302
5 STARS
36%
4 STARS
34%
3 STARS
21%
2 STARS
6%
1 STARS
2%
goodreads
Author
Katerina Tuckova
Author · 12 books
Kateřina Tučková (nar. 1980) vystudovala dějiny umění a bohemistiku na FF MU v Brně, v současné době pracuje jako kurátorka. Debutovala novelou Montespaniáda (2006), v roce 2009 vydala román Vyhnání Gerty Schnirch, za který obdržela cenu Magnesia Litera 2010 – Knižní klub Cena čtenářů a byla nominována na Cenu Josefa Škvoreckého, Magnesii Literu za prózu a Cenu Jiřího Ortena. Je autorkou několika odborných publikací z oblasti českého výtvarného umění, na pomezí historie a krásné literatury se pohybuje beletrizovaný životopis Můj otec Kamil Lhoták (2008).
