Arsonist

Something is wrong in this village

An oppressive atmosphere hangs over the border village. People are afraid of the Germans, tension is rising and then fear arrives. The fear of an unknown arsonist who is burning down one homestead after another. A masterfully told novella about alienation and loneliness.

“What worked on the outside, didn't work on the inside,” is how the author describes the oppressive feeling of seventeen-year-old Eliška, who hates her mother, despises her, and fears her at the same time. Her younger brother Kamil is fumbling through his adolescence, his head is a mess, Eliška scares him a little, and his classmate Rudolf is both his closest friend and rival. The mother is a mysterious figure who cloaks her dissatisfaction with her life and marriage in a silent hardness. And the father, Josef Simon, the innkeeper, may be able to tame rowdy guests, but the relationships within his family are beyond him. The atmosphere is oppressive not only in the innkeeper's family but throughout the entire border village. People are afraid of the Germans, tension is rising and then fear arrives. The fear of an unknown arsonist who is burning down one homestead after another. A masterfully told novella about alienation and loneliness, unhealthy relationships, and a lack of understanding for one another.