Six years after the novel “Bukača”, the author brings a story about fateful encounters, diplomacy of the heart and love as a key ally through the challenges and struggles that marked her life and work in the past period.
Speaking after the promotion, Mlinarević recalled that the last time she promoted the book in Sarajevo was in 2019 at Kamerni teatr 55, when, as she says, the atmosphere was great, and that tonight’s promotion is special to her because it is a book that sublimates five years of her life in Prague, both diplomatic work and private life.
She described how her diplomatic mandate was marked by a series of global and personal challenges, which is actually the essence of the novel itself.
– A month after taking office, the coronavirus pandemic hit Bosnia and Herzegovina hard. citizens in the Czech Republic. The embassy then became a home for all our people. After that, there was a difficult moment when my husband had a stroke, and soon after that the war in Ukraine started. Two Ukrainian families came to our family and stayed with us for eight months. They say we saved their lives, but I think they saved ours, right at that moment when we needed it the most. We created a multinational community in our apartment and showed that people from different parts of the world breathe the same way. Especially because we ourselves went through the experience of being refugees in our war, so we wanted to open the door to them too – she said.
She added that the book was also created under the influence of global crises.
– The genocide against the residents of Gaza marked the last year and affected my life and work in Prague. It was inevitable that it should be mentioned, because it greatly influenced our reality today. Through all that, I also mentioned the names of our people in the Czech Republic, as well as the Czechs who helped Bosnia and Herzegovina from the 90s until today. I wanted those names to be permanently recorded in one place, so that they are not forgotten, because we live in a time when we don’t have the patience for a five-minute video, let alone remember what happened 30 years ago – she said.
Speaking about the title of the book, she explained that the phrase “I’ll take you across Prague” sounds romantic in the languages of the region, but in her book it carries a different weight.
– The title represents something beautiful, but in the book things are much more difficult. The phrase has several different versions and meanings. I tried to convey all the pain that the characters had to go through through it, through the river Vltava – she said.
Mlinarević emphasized that promotions have already been held in Prague and Zagreb, and now also in Sarajevo.
– Unfortunately, due to the nature of my job, it is possible to organize promotions only occasionally, on weekends or when I am on vacation. I try to combine it as best as possible, and it really means a lot to me to meet readers. I expect new promotions soon and I hope that the readers will react as they did to all my previous books, which is already happening with this one – concluded Mlinarević.
The novel “I’ll carry you over Prague” can be bought in Kultura, Svjetlost and Buybook bookstores.
(Vijesti.ba / FENA)
