It's 1954 and nine-year-old Mira's life is about to change forever. After a typhoid outbreak rages through her town, robbing her of her parents and siblings, the orphaned child is forced to live with her mysterious, depressive Aunt Hana, a figure both frightening and fragile. Gradually, Mira uncovers the secrets of their troubled family history and begins to understand why her aunt is so incapable of trusting herself and the world around her. Deftly weaving two separate timelines, the harrowing reasons behind Hana’s reclusive way of life, the guilt she wears as palpably as a cloak, and the tattoo on her wrist, are revealed to Mira. Alena Mornštajnová’s gripping novel, which is based on real events, has won numerous awards and been translated into over a dozen languages across the world.

Alena Mornštajnová (1963) is a Czech fiction writer and translator. She wrote four novels and one book for children. Alena Mornštajnová studied English and Czech at Ostrava University. For years, she worked as English teacher. She also translates from English. She made her debut in 2013 with the novel Slepá mapa (Blind Map), and her second novel Hotýlek (The Little Hotel) came out in 2015. It was primarily due to her third novel, Hana, from 2017 that Alena Mornštajnová became one of the most popular contemporary Czech writers. Up to now, Hana has been published in five languages, and eight more foreign editions are under preparation just now, including English, German and Italian. Alena Mornštajnová has won several awards: among others, her novel Hana received the 2018 Czech Book Award and became the 2017 Book of the Year on the website Databáze knih (Database of Books). Her latest novel Tiché roky (Years of Silence, 2019) went to the top of the national bestseller list immediately after publication. In total, more than 250,000 copies of the author’s books have been sold in the Czech Republic. Alena Mornštajnová lives in Valašské Mezirící.