The White Spring

May 2022, 180 pages

A disturbing testimony of a time and people we would rather forget

Aš: the westernmost town in the country was once the crown jewel of the Sudetenland, where the textile industry and trade flourished. A city that once housed countless shops, restaurants, and cafés. This story of a time when everything began crumbling down begins in 1915 and ends with the expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia. Politics, however, loom in the background of this work of literature.

The book tells the story of Hedvika, who has felt inadequate her whole life. Hedvika is a girl whose drive compels her to do certain things while preventing her from doing others. She vehemently struggles to break free of the village of Wernersreuth (today’s Vernéřov), but she is permanently bound.

Hedvika is detached and connected, indifferent and invested, rebellious and humble. She is confronted with alienation and love—the kind of love you read about in romance novels but presented here without embellishments.

The White Spring is a tribute to Aš, whose former glory is now long forgotten but can be found in remnants. Houses are made of crumbling walls, cellars, and wells. It is a mysterious place where nature paid the price for the town’s historical development. Yet the author’s imaginative portrayal depicts Aš as a rich and beautiful town with enormous potential. That is why she writes about it and why she lives there.