Beliefs

Where might our beliefs lead us?

Ester is a divorcée who supports herself and her son. These circumstances would be ordinary but for the fact that she makes her living as a prostitute, a detail she keeps hidden from those around her, as she does the string of events that pushed her into this trap. Ester and her son live in the Uplands, in the house of her grandmother, whom she remembers for her kindness but also for her beliefs, the restrictive nature of which bordered on bigotry. To make her stressful living, Ester commutes to Hatě, on the border with Austria, a bizarre world of casinos, brothels, markets and other attractions, where she offers herself under the crude supervision of the pimp Mára.

It is here that another unexpected incident occurs – one that will change the course of Ester’s life for good and all. In the vortex of manipulation, violence and bad decisions, does it represent a step for the better or the worse? She has but one good reason to persist with her battle for survival, in the person of her eleven-year-old son Vojta. But what if he were to find out the truth about her? Subjects addressed in this new novel by the multi-talented successful writer/artist include beliefs we cling to withstand the turbulence of fate and our transformation by light on the threshold of death.

"The self- confident pace of the prose is pleasingly complemented by subtle atmospheres and fine details and emotions – in short, by the poetry to which Háblová’s roots as a writer predispose her. Most importantly, the author is able to examine topics of great social urgency from an impressive, intimate perspective, without any kind of moralizing..."
— Martin Stöhr, editor

‘An examination of the life of a sex worker who is in the business despite her strict Catholic upbringing, the story asks whether faith is merely a crutch of some kind or a space or link where the physical and spiritual worlds come together ,’ says the author. ‘It also begs the question of whether excessive striving to follow rules can lead to an absence of understanding and compassion: it is easy to take offence at someone, hard to be the one who causes the offence…’