A Desert in Bohemia
by Jill Paton Walsh
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Description
A brilliant, moving and thought-provoking novel from the author of Knowledge of Angels. 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 show more 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 between the end of the war and the fall of Communism, A Desert in Bohemia is a complex and enthralling testament to the power and powerlessness of the individual in challenging times. show lessTags
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charl08 Similar style and geographic location.
Member Reviews
I did not enjoy this as much as I recall enjoying Jill Paton Walsh's previous novel, Knowledge of Angels. But still there is something about her writing that I like. I got a little bogged down at points but am glad I finished. It is about being exiled from home, about the depredations of first the Nazis and then the Communists on a fictional East European country and a group of interconnected characters.
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Women in War
148 works; 30 members
Author Information
59+ Works 8,500 Members
Jill Paton Walsh was born Gillian Bliss on April 29, 1937 in London. She graduated from St. Anne's College in Oxford. She taught at the Enfield Girls' Grammar School for three years and was a permanent visiting faculty member for the Center for Children's Literature at Simmons College in Boston, Massachusetts. She was also an adjunct British board show more member of Children's Literature New England. She has written more than 15 books for children. She has won numerous awards including the Book World Festival Award for Fireweed in 1970, the Whitbread Prize for The Emperor's Winding Sheet in1974, the Universe Prize for A Parcel of Patterns in 1984, and the Smarties Grand Prix for Gaffer Samson's Luck in 1984. She has also written adult novels, including completing an unfinished Dorothy Sayers manuscript. Her adult works include Knowledge of Angels, The Serpentine Cave, and A School for Lovers. She is the author of the Imogen Quy Mystery series and the Lord Peter Wimsey Mystery series. She was elected as fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1996. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Some Editions
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title*
- De woeste kust van Bohemen
- Original title
- A Desert in Bohemia
- Original publication date
- 2000 (Engels) (Engels); 2001 (Nederlands) (Nederlands)
- People/Characters*
- Eliska; Michael Blansky; Frantisek Koneeny
- Important places*
- Comenië, Oost-Europa (fictief)
- Original language*
- Engels
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
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Statistics
- Members
- 141
- Popularity
- 231,310
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (3.54)
- Languages
- Dutch, English
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 8
