It is summer of 1938, in the Czech spa town of Karlovy Vary.

Life for the Dusek family - and their six-year-old son Jan - has been stable, unhurried, and full of promise.

But times are changing. An idyllic childhood gives way to impending invasion and looming war. Jan's parents choose to leave everything behind, to face an uncertain future.

A following vivid and hazardous journey across Europe is often seen by Jan as an adventure rather than a danger. The family settle in England just two weeks before the start of World War Two, ready to put the past behind them as they build a new life in a new land.

It is summer of 2019, as Jan returns to Karlovy for the first time in 80 years.

An International Film Festival is in progress. How much more has the world changed? What remains the same? What other timeless and terrible challenges will bring about further immigration, settlement and belonging? Can the only strengthening shield be the power of love?

About the Author
Stepan Novak was born in Karlovy Vary, in the mid-Europe of the early 1930's. Later, this Czech boy and his parents arrived as 'friendly aliens' in England, two weeks before the start of World War Two and the Blitz. An English primary education in state and public school followed, the latter funded by the Czech Government in UK exile. Further years of study led to Stepan's qualification as an architect. A glad debt to his adopted country was then completed via two years of National Service as 2nd Lieutenant in the Royal Engineers, British Army of the Rhein. A parallel lifetime of Architecture and Academia then began. While Stepan designed buildings in the UK, his students went on to work all over the world. Stepan's teaching carried him to Japan, to mainland Europe, and to America, where he tutored semesters in the universities of Arkansas and Yale. He became Head of the School of Architecture and Design, University of Brighton, retiring as Professor Emeritus. Further years of architectural creativity followed, side by side with the writing of his debut novel.


Book Information
ISBN 9781914471025
Author Stepan Novak
Format Paperback
Page Count 224
Imprint The Book Guild Ltd
Publisher The Book Guild Ltd