Lit in Translation

Ravensbrück

Steve Sem-Sandberg (born 1958)

English editions

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Milena Jesenská is usually remembered through the men in her life: she wrote letters to Kafka, translated him and may have been his lover. This novel puts her at the centre. A gifted Czech journalist with a voice entirely her own, she was a major presence among the writers, artists and radicals of Central Europe between the wars. Her own letters and articles are woven into the narrative, quoted or reworked, blending document with fiction. Sent as a political prisoner to the camp at Ravensbrück, she died there: one strong woman against a crushing, dark era.

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About the book

Form
Novel
Length
270 pages in the original
Genres
Historical, War, Politics (assigned by AI)
Set in
Germany
First published
2003 by Albert Bonniers Förlag
Author's age
45 when first published
ISBN

9789100100193 (original)