Wald im Haus

They call her Trutschel, and she seems to be in the world by chance, completely unintentional. Her father has disappeared somewhere in the waves, her mother escapes her responsibilities through affairs and alcohol—and the little girl clings to her resentful grandmother, who runs a gardening business and is convinced that all the bad in life can be eradicated like a ravenous slug. Or one simply doesn’t talk about it. But surrounding them is a forest that hides something eerie, and one day Trutschel will start to speak. Alena Mornštajnová has written a powerful and dramatic story about how nothing in life is as it seems at first glance, and that no secret is ever buried so deep that it cannot be uncovered. It sends shivers down your spine, but you can't stop reading until the truth comes to light. Alena Mornštajnová has crafted intimate psychological prose with elements of a mystery thriller. In fact, it is a creeping, at times very functionally symbolic horror about the hell inflicted upon one—better said, upon a person—by others. Together with Hana, it is the author's best book. Approximately 300 pages, hardcover, with a ribbon bookmark, release date: October 2024. I wanted to write a book about how difficult it sometimes is to distinguish truth from lies, how impossible it is to confront evil, and how some decisions that may seem easy to an observer are incomprehensible and insurmountable for the person at the center of it all. I wanted to clarify for myself why these things happen and why it is so hard to face them. Alena Mornštajnová, author.