Darda

Now forty-three, Helena Součková lives in the Žizkov district of Prague. When adversity strikes, she is making her living as an actress and bringing up two teenagers. Irena Dousková’s work Darda is a loose continuation of the highly successful autobiographical novels B. Proudew / Hrdý Budžes (1998) and Onegin was a Rusky / Oněgin byl Rusák (2006). This time we find the female protagonist/narrator in the immediate present, facing up to the break-up of her twenty-year marriage to Jindřich Darda and contending with grave illness. In defiance of these miseries Helena does what she can to continue a normal life. She remains the Helena we know, unflinchingly honest and with her own brand of humour – which is why it is such an enriching experience to read her story.

Theatre adaptation - Divadlo Na Jezerce, 2012.

Audio book was released by Supraphon, 2012.