Bianca Bellová: A Cruel Tale of Fate

Bianca Bellová was born in Prague in 1970. She holds a degree from the University of Economics and works as a writer and translator. She has written four novels: Sentimentální román [A Sentimental Novel] (2009), Mrtvý muž [The Dead Man] (2011), Celý den se nic nestane [Nothing Will Happen All Day Long] (2013) and Jezero [The Lake] (2016). The last of these received the Magnesia Litera Book of the Year award in 2017, as well as the European Union Prize for Literature. ‘Bellová enriched Czech literature with a cruel dystopia,’ writes Alena Slezáková. ‘Jezero is one of the most remarkable books of the past few years, telling a cruel story of the fate people have prepared for both nature and themselves. A fate that no one even intends to stand up to.’