Reviews

Review by Czech writer Marie Formáčková:

It wasn't that long ago that I asked junior high school students if they knew the authors of the Czech national anthem. One girl fished out the name of Josef Kajetán Tyl from the depths of her brain, and that was the end of the information gathering. However, the words of the hymn and the melody were put together by the students, i.e. the first stanzas.
I don't blame the students, rather I found it strange that their teachers at the elementary schools where they came from didn't think it was important to get this information into their heads. Or to parents, even if they already belong to the generation where it is possible to "Google" everything, so it is quite possible that they don't know it either.
And so I rejoiced when the opportunity landed on my computer to read a book about František Škroup, the author of the music of the Czech national anthem, about a man without whom we would not shed tears when our hockey players or football players win in some important match, let alone the Olympic Games.
The author of the biography, Markéta Dočekalová, created a remarkable work. She found her way to František Škroup through her stay in the Netherlands, where she once studied, and František Škroup said goodbye to his life there. And because the topic of the abandoned grave was close to her heart, not only did she clean and decorate the grave then, but years later she also did the same with František Škroupa's name.
Her book will take the reader to a time that we, the next generation, are only learning about, it will introduce us to his family and the people who influenced his fate, who sometimes made him happy, but quite often hurt him. A great story has been created that, although it takes place in the nineteenth century, has a lot in common with today. Yes, times change, but people remain the same. But this story has one more added value, it is not yet closed. Markéta Dočekalová would very much like the famous composer and author of our most beloved song to finally be able to return home, as he longed for. His remains have not yet been identified, but who knows how scientific methods and human will will advance. František Škroup deserves the closure of his story.
In the vast sea of today's books, one appeared that should not sink to the bottom. If I were the Minister of Education, I would certainly include it in the curriculum.

Marie Formáčková,

author of more than a hundred books about Czech personalities

Review by Czech writer Hana Marie Körnerová:

Your book definitely has atmosphere and is deeply human. The prologue got me. I could feel the nostalgia of a young Czech student who feels desperately lonely in the midst of people in a foreign, damp city. Christmas homesickness...

Christmas Eve and a dark deserted grave in the middle of a sea of lights belonging only to those who are not forgotten. It resonates with the feelings of a long-dead composer who has not received recognition at home and has to seek a living abroad. It's a very powerful story. Sad because it is about vanity, about the fact that no one is a prophet at home, about the strength of the spirit that struggles with a weak and sick body. A human and powerful story that evokes emotions that an "ordinary biography" would not be able to evoke.

I was at the beginning when my daughter called me, and I read the passages that had the greatest impact on her on the phone.

"Mom, you touched me," my daughter said, her voice choked with tears. "Can you lend me the book?"

"I can't, but when it comes out, I'll buy it for you."

"Do you know that I didn't really know anything about Skraup?"

"Me neither," I admitted.

We were in the same position as the student at the beginning of the book.

"I want to fly to Rotterdam and lay a flower on his grave," the daughter said before hanging up.

(She works for Lufthansa.) I guess we'll fly there together.

That book is a success. It's in my head and I can't stop thinking about it. And that only happens with good stories. In addition, it is written in such a way that it arouses the desire to visit Rotterdam and go through the places you write about.

Hana Marie Körnerová,

author of more than 50 successful novels

Review by Czech writer Lucie Hlavinková:

I knew only a few of the most famous facts about František Škroup, so almost nothing. Thanks to Markéta Dočekalová's book, a living personality suddenly arose in front of me, the author of our national anthem and an excellent musician, a man not recognized in his homeland, but achieving great success in the Netherlands, where he spent the end of his life.
Thanks to her very precise work with sources and literature, Markéta Dočekalová has achieved a truly vivid image not only of her main hero, to whom she has a very close relationship, as is well understood from the text, but also of the depiction of the time and environment. Czech readers can get an accurate idea of the Netherlands in the middle of the 19th century, which formed the backdrop for the end of František Škroup's life. But the book is definitely not just a factually accurate description, the author appears in it, acquaints the reader with the process of creating the book, relates the events of Škroup's life to her own life, it is personal, full of emotions, very readable and interesting from the linguistic point of view. I like such books, and Markéta Dočekalová has managed not only to fill in the blank spaces in history, but to bring back to life a story that has something to say to the contemporary reader, because as you can see, human qualities do not change at all in the course of history.

Lucie Hlavinková,
Writer, author of almost twenty books for children and adults

Review by Czech writer PhDr. Markéta Hejkalová

I read Markéta Dočekalová's book "Where is my home?" with great interest. Is it a novel? Documentary prose? The genre classification is not entirely clear-cut, and this is where the appeal of this readable and engaging book lies for me. It follows the last years of the life of the Czech composer and author of our national anthem, František Škroup. Škroup spent his time as Kapellmeister of the German National Opera in Rotterdam. We witness his successes and ovations, his incipient illness, his homesickness, his bitterness towards the Czech National Revivalists, as well as difficult economic conditions, negotiations with the theatre committee over the amount of his salary, and the family's relocation. It is the description of everyday life at that time and the comparison of life in the Czech lands and in Holland that is very interesting. The author describes the prices and the search for rental apartments, the menu, how it is with the children's school attendance. The "historical" chapters are interspersed with contemporary ones, in which the author vividly describes both her former studies in Rotterdam and her current stay, conversations with the professor from whom she rents a room to stay, and the search for Škroup's diary, which takes on detective features.
The book is also a tribute to Czech musicians, who often achieved greater recognition abroad than at home - in addition to Škroup, the name of one of the Hřímalý brothers, who also worked successfully in Finland, also appears in it - and thus invites reflection on the Czech destiny.

Markéta Hejkalová,
writer, author of almost twenty fiction books and director of the Autumn Book Fair in Havlíčkův Brod

Review by reader Veronika Holečková (received by e-mail, June 8th, 2024)

Dear Mrs. Dočekalová, I wanted to congratulate you on your new book. I read it almost in one breath. It comes out at the right time and fills a gap in the biographies of our composers. Plavec's book has long been forgotten and the Czech music-loving public is dependent on what is written on Wikipedia. You managed to follow the last months of an artist who did not receive recognition in his homeland, which is, unfortunately, quite common in our history. Sensitively and with understanding, you have painted a picture of a man who, despite all his successes in an otherwise not very friendly country, suffers from feelings of inadequacy in fulfilling his professional and personal or family duties. It's actually a very sad reading. But because you know how to write, you've connected this story with your own. Also full of questions, unexpected twists and turns. Your detective work in checking factual information would please teachers of journalistic ethics and enrich the reader with facts of times past.