Karlovy Vary Goodbye: a novel

Summer 1938, the picturesque Czech spa town of Karlovy Vary (then called Karlsbad). This is where the story begins, seen through the eyes of a 6 year-old boy, whose parents are dentists. Their domestic idyll is soon rocked by the Nazi invasion of Czechoslovakia the following spring, the immediate impact and bombing raid, their escape to Prague, and – once it becomes clear that the threat is only getting worse – to Britain. The story then follows the family’s war years in the British Isles and subsequent assimilation into the country they now called home.

An interesting read, set against a traumatic chapter of history, and also providing a sense of family and social history – a tale in which the activities, experiences, values and thoughts of even ordinary people are interesting to evoke a sense of the past. As with many life stories, it is compelling in its own right, and also a reflective read – making you consider how you would have felt to live through those circumstances, and also to consider your own life and experiences today.

• Published by Book Guild (paperback) £8.99. ISBN: 9781914471025. HT