Books set in the Czech Republic (Beyond Prague)

Find the Best Books Set in the Czech Republic (Czechia) – Some of the most compelling books set in the Czech Republic unfold beyond the capital Prague. From Bohemian and Moravian villages and valleys to provincial towns shaped by history, culture and tradition, these novels reveal Czechia’s rich and varied landscapes through literature.

Best Books set in Bohemia

A Sensitive Person by Jáchym Topol

A Sensitive Person by Jáchym Topol follows a wandering actor who returns with his family to the Czech Republic, only to be forced into flight through central Bohemia after a false accusation. This darkly comic novel offers a gripping way into contemporary Czech society.

Setting: Poříčí nad Sázavou (Central Bohemia)
Published: 2017
Original title: Citlivý člověk
384 pages
Notable: The author, Jáchym Topol, won the Czech State Award for Literature.

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Rustic Baroque by Jiří Hájíček

Setting: South Bohemia
Published: 2005
Original title: Selský baroko
412 pages
The author, Jiří Hájíček, was awarded the Magnesia Litera Prize for this novel.

How I Came to Know Fish by Ota Pavel

How I Came to Know Fish by Ota Pavel is a tender memoir of childhood in the Bohemian countryside before the Second World War. Its gentle pastoral beauty is pierced by the Nazi occupation, making this novella a deeply moving portrait of a lost world—and an unforgettable literary introduction to rural Czechia beyond the cities.

Setting: Branov, Buštěhrad (Central Bohemia)
Published: 1974
Original title: Jak jsem potkal ryby
144 pages

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The Miracle Game by Josef Škvorecký

Setting: Číhošť (Vysočina, Bohemia)
Published: 1972
Original title: Mirákl
450 pages
The author, Josef Škvorecký, was awarded the Neustadt International Prize for Literature.

Closely Observed Trains by Bohumil Hrabal

Setting: Central Bohemia (likely inspired by Stratov or Kostomlaty nad Labem)
Published: 1965
Original title: Ostře sledované vlaky
128 pages
Notable: The author, Bohumil Hrabal, is widely considered one of the most significant Czech writers of the second half of the twentieth century.

The Cowards by Josef Škvorecký

Setting: the fictional town of Kostelec (Bohemia)
Published: 1958
Original title: Zbabělci
416 pages
The author, Josef Škvorecký, was awarded the Neustadt International Prize for Literature.

We Were a Handful by Karel Poláček

Setting: Rychnov nad Kněžnou (Hradec Králové, Bohemia)
Published: 1946
Original title: Bylo nás pět
210 pages

The Arsonist by Egon Hostovský

Setting: the fictional town of Zbečnov, in eastern Bohemia
Published: 1935
Original title: Žhář
180 pages

The Castle by Franz Kafka

The Castle by Franz Kafka follows a stranger trapped in a snowbound village dominated by a castle, where faceless bureaucracy thwarts every attempt at belonging. Rooted in the landscapes of Bohemia, this novel by one Czechia’s best-known authors is a haunting exploration of power, alienation, and life under opaque authority—essential reading for anyone drawn to unsettling classics set in Czechia.

Setting: The setting is likely inspired by Frýdlant Castle (Liberec) or Siřem (Ústí nad Labem), in northern Bohemia.
Published: 1926
Original title: Das Schloß
352 pages

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The Summer of Caprice by Vladislav Vančura

Setting: A fictional spa town in Bohemia, likely inspired by Karlovy Vary.
Published: 1926
Original title: Rozmarné léto
204 pages

The Good Soldier Švejk by Jaroslav Hašek

The Good Soldier Švejk sends its hapless hero wandering through South Bohemia and other regions of the Austro-Hungarian Empire during the First World War. This most translated of Czech novels is a biting anti-war satire, exposing the military as a labyrinth where loyalty is demanded but direction is never clear.

Setting: Prague, České Budějovice and Tábor (South Bohemia) and other places in the Austro-Hungarian Empire
Published: 1921-1923
Original title: Osudy dobrého vojáka Švejka za světové války
784 pages

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Witiko by Adalbert Stifter

Setting: Bohemia (the Bohemian Forest in South Bohemia)
Published: 1865-1867
Original title: Witiko
595 pages

The Grandmother by Božena Němcová

Setting: Ratibořice (East Bohemia)
Published: 1855
Original title: Babička
362 pages

Best Books set in Moravia

The Last Goddess by Kateřina Tučková

The Last Goddess weaves a gripping story around the traditional female healers of the White Carpathians, in Moravian Wallachia, seen through the eyes of a modern researcher. Deeply rooted in the Czech countryside, this bestselling novel blends folklore, history, and injustice, offering a good reason to explore one of Czechia’s most remote regions.

Setting: Žítková (Zlín) (Moravia)
Published: 2012
Original title: Žítkovské bohyně
432 pages
Notable: The author, Kateřina Tučková, received the Czech State Award for Literature, the Readers’ Magnesia Litera award (twice), the Josef Škvorecký Literature Award, and the Czech Book Reader’s Award.

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Gerta by Kateřina Tučková

Setting: Brno (South Moravia)
Published: 2009
Original title: Vyhnání Gerty Schnirch
460 pages
Notable: The author, Kateřina Tučková, received the Czech State Award for Literature, the Readers’ Magnesia Litera award (twice), the Josef Škvorecký Literature Award, and the Czech Book Reader’s Award.

The Vow by Jiří Kratochvil

Setting: Brno (South Moravia)
Published: 2009
Original title: Slib
292 pages
The author, Jiří Kratochvil, was awarded the Jaroslav Seifert Prize and the Tom Stoppard Prize.

Money from Hitler by Radka Denemarková

Setting: Puklice (Vysočina, Moravia)
Published: 2006
Original title: Peníze od Hitlera
252 pages
The author, Radka Denemarková, was awarded the Magnesia Litera Award for this novel.

The Joke by Milan Kundera

Setting: Moravia
Published: 1967
Original title: Žert
336 pages
Notable: A novel about how a joke can upend a life, by one of Czechia’s most renowned authors.

The Axe by Ludvík Vaculík

Setting: A fictional village in rural Moravia (likely Zlín); Prague
Published: 1966
Original title: Sekyra
223 pages

The Radetzky March by Joseph Roth

The Radetzky March by Joseph Roth traces the slow decline of the Austro-Hungarian Empire through a family with deep roots in Moravia, in what is now the Czech Republic. Set largely in provincial towns far from imperial Vienna, the novel offers a vivid, melancholic portrait of daily life under Franz Joseph’s multi-ethnic empire.

Setting: Moravia (likely Vyškov); Galicia (likely Brody); Vienna.
Published: 1932
Original title: Radetzky Marsch
352 pages
Notable: A true European classic by one of the greatest authors of the 20th century.

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