Klára Teršová
Klára Teršová was born in Aš in 1989. She studied political science at the University of Hradec Králové and economics at the Czech University of Life Sciences. She spent two semesters in Salamanca and Granada in Spain and worked as an intern in Brussels. After graduating, she took a job in public administration and dreamed of becoming a diplomat in a Spanish-speaking country. She started writing at an early age for school newspapers and magazines and for fun. By chance she came back to Aš. Soon after, she founded the non-profit organisation Smrčiny, which aims to develop a contradictory, beautiful place. She found inspiration for The White Spring in the town’s past and present, its dilapidation and its beautiful nature. The author currently runs her café in the village of Vernéřov near Aš. She blogs about baking, the Aš region and life at the edge of the world.
THE MIROSLAV IVANOV PRIZE – BEST HISTORY BOOK (2023)
The Way to the Cross
April 2023, 236 pages
A disturbing testimony of a time and people we would rather forget
The year is 1970. Eliška Mazochová, her husband and their two-year-old daughter have moved from the small town of Volary to the outskirts of the country – the city of Aš – where they hope to hide from the powerful influence of the totalitarian regime. Eliška, who grew up under totalitarianism, struggles with the many roles she has to play in life. She feels she has failed as a mother and a wife. She struggles with deep-seated feelings of shame, and it’s only when death knocks at her door that she begins to work on correcting her mistakes. The question is: will it be too late? The characters we meet along the way are an image of the city, a symbolic representation of its machinery. After all, every city is built by its inhabitants. Is Aš still alive, or has she already breathed her last?
