The Silent Woman

Synopsis

This &“exhilarating novel&” of love, longing, and exile &“captures the passion of a century in turmoil&” (Rahna Reiko Rizzuto, author of Hiroshima in the Morning). From the &“outstanding&” Czech writer Monika Zgustova, The Silent Woman depicts a twentieth-century woman&’s life against a backdrop of war and political turmoil (Vaclav Havel). Sylva, half Czech and half German, is born into an aristocratic family and lives in a castle outside Prague. She marries a man she doesn&’t love and is seduced by the joyful madness of Paris in the 1920s as an ambassador&’s wife. When the Nazis force her to state her loyalty, she capitulates, not realizing how this decision will inform and haunt the rest of her life. Sylva&’s story is interwoven with that of her son Jan, a world-renowned mathematician and Russian emigre living in the United States, who exudes the restlessness of a man without a country. With insight and candor, Zgustova weaves a multigenerational narrative of the consequences of moral choices and how individuals come to terms with their own forms of exile.

Copyright:

2014

Book Details

Book Quality:

Publisher Quality

ISBN-13:

9781558618428

Publisher:

The Feminist Press at CUNY

Date of Addition:

03/08/25

Copyrighted By:

Feminist Press

Adult content:

No

Language:

English

Has Image Descriptions:

No

Categories:

History, Military, Literature and Fiction, Politics and Government

Submitted By:

Bookshare Staff

Usage Restrictions:

This is a copyrighted book.

Foreword by:

Norman Manea