Astaroth

In the stories of Smíchov native Růžena Jesenská (1863-1940), tones of mostly dark passions are heard, which burn in the chests of precisely depicted female characters, driven by lust to the point of crimes and madness.

Whether the artist, aristocrats, travelers or seamstresses, all of them experience special fateful adventures, often in confrontation with a different-minded environment, which he considers eccentric and debauched. In Prague or on remote estates and in inaccessible gardens, Sapphic love sprouts, and mothers long for their sons; By the sea, the call of mysterious tragic distances can be heard.

Růžena Jesenská is a unique phenomenon in Czech literature, a versatile author who, in addition to girls' or educational novels and plays, knew how to write provocatively sensual and symbolic texts that take place as if out of this world. This collection, compiled and written by Petr Boček, can be recommended as a midnight treat for all romantic, neo-romantic and decadent readers with a weakness for subtle fantasy and stories written in refined prose shrouded in desire, far removed from all realism.