Summary of Transfigured Night
The novella “Transfigured Night” follows Leonora Marty, a famous dancer and choreographer who returns to Prague after the fall of communism. She wanders the streets of Prague, meets old acquaintances, and begins a romantic relationship with Thomas, whose family were ethnic Germans expelled from Czechoslovakia after the Second World War.
Reasons to read Transfigured Night
“Transfigured Night” is a touching and informative novella about Prague as a city in transformation during the 1990s, sharply contrasting with the Communist Prague of the protagonist’s youth. The novel explores cultural and political issues such as the role of capitalism and the break-up of Czechoslovakia. Libuse Monikova, an acclaimed Czech-German novelist, wrote her novels in German. She won the Alfred Döblin Prize in 1987 for her novel “The Façade”, the Franz Kafka Prize in 1989, and medals of merit in both the Czech Republic and Germany in 1997.
Setting: Prague (Czech Republic)
Original title: Verklärte Nacht
Year of publication: 1996
Nr of pages: 125
