Happiness

Happiness. Everyone thinks they know what it is. Few people make it real. What does it comprise? Contentment with a partner? Healthy, gifted children? Well-rewarded work? An annuity for life? A spectacular home? Think of the Stalinist Czechoslovakia of the 1950s. How could happiness be achieved there, and at what cost? To what did the pursuit of happiness expose people, and what were they forced to sacrifice? Grammar-school student Zora Mlynářová aspires to a modest, low-key life. But her “class origins” make such a thing impossible: she is daughter of the village’s biggest landowner (a kulak). Her teacher is keen to oblige those in power. Her classmates are ignorant and cowardly. Her home is watched over by militiamen (members of workers’ combat units, a.k.a. the armed fist of the working class). On top of it all, she is recklessly in love with a man whose photo appears on the “Roll of Honour” for exemplary workers.    

In Martin Fahrner’s highly evocative, plot-driven novella, Zora’s always credible narration provides a fresh view of a stifling decade which fully acknowledges the tragedy of victims of a regime without mercy. In these benighted years, the young protagonist shows courage, resilience and perseverance. But will she achieve the happiness she so desires?