The Lake

Czech Republic. Boros is a fishing village in a mysterious Eastern European country. As the lake that borders it dries up, Nami grows up alongside his grandparents in a place where vodka flows freely, where women are held in low esteem and where the children are all affected by a strange eczema. Left to his own devices when he reaches adolescence, Nami decides to leave this oppressive village and move to the big city... A fascinating coming-of-age story, this powerful novel examines family ties and is also deeply political in its evocation of foreign political influence, and just as topical in its denunciation of industrial pollution and the way it affects the most disadvantaged.