Illmitz

A poignant coming-of-age journey across time and memory.

Jiri embarks on a journey from Trieste to Illmitz, seeking to trace his family’s roots. Along the way, he encounters a colorful and unexpected cast of characters—both living and dead—that challenge his sense of self and spark profound revelations. There’s his cousin Agnes, who met her untimely death testing her guardian angel by walking across the street with her eyes closed; his exuberant girlfriend, whose physical presence starkly contrasts with his own fragile frame; Andrea, his childhood friend; and ‘Frankenstein his eccentric neighbor, each leaving their mark on his journey. Perhaps most unexpectedly, Jiri meets his deceased mother, who offers him a connection to a past he never expected to find.

Through these encounters, Jiri begins to confront his feelings of inadequacy and fragility, slowly unraveling the threads of his own identity and finding strength where he once felt weakness.

A deeply moving tale of self-discovery, family, and the ghosts that shape us, this novel explores how the past and the people we encounter along the way can lead us to the answers we’ve been searching for all along.