This book will be released in March 2025.
Pre-orders are charged at time of order and the book will be posted to you as soon as it becomes available.
UK postage is 99 pence per order.
Translated by Julia and Peter Sherwood
You put your arms around me in front of my father.
Your daughter is very special.
12 50, 13 51, 14 52, 15 53, 16 54, 17 55, 18 57
Tereza and Ivan share secrets. Tereza is now in art school away from the town where she grew up. Ivan is a teacher and artist. Tereza is now nineteen, Ivan is fifty-seven. They have known each other for years.
Tereza shares her secrets with her friend Silvia. Ivan does not tell anyone. He constructs memories of Tereza to keep in his bed at night, covering them with sweat and tears.
In this minimalist, poetic novella with autobiographical elements Nicol Hochholczerová weaves a story of obsession and power and how both can lead to damage and separation. Rich with symbolism, its explosive themes – of eating disorders, abusive control and family dysfunction – are delicately handled with honesty and intelligence.
Nicol Hochholczerová’s first novel is a controversial best-seller. It has been awarded prizes and is being widely translated across Europe.
"Courageous... can be swallowed in one gulp" – Ivana Gibová
"A surreal imagination" – Peter FL Jílek
Nicol Hochholczerová, who was born in 1999, grew up in Rimavská Sobota, Slovakia. In 2024, she completed a Master’s in graphic design at the Academy of Art in Banská Bystrica. Her short stories have garnered prizes in a number of literary competitions. Her book-length debut, Táto izba sa nedá zjesť (This Room Is Impossible to Eat) was shortlisted for Slovakia’s most prestigious literary prize, the Anasoft Litera Award, and has since been translated into Bulgarian, Czech, Hungarian, Serbian, Polish and Ukrainian, with German and Macedonian translations underway. A feature film based on the book is in production. In 2022, Hochholczerová was named Young Artist of the Year by the Tatra Banka Foundation. The Polish translation was nominated for the Angelus literary prize, awarded to living authors from Central Europe.