The November Culture Czech-in: Witches, writers and women who wouldn't behave

BOOKS

Two Czech novels that put the past on trial

As Czechia marks the Velvet Revolution, two newly translated novels revisit the sexual politics of earlier generations and the cultural figures once considered untouchable.

In Petra Hůlová's The Long Version, middle-aged feminist writer Sylvie is touring her latest book when her daughter discovers old diaries detailing her teenage relationship with a celebrated author 25 years her senior. Her daughter sees exploitation; Sylvie resists having her past judged by today's standards. Alongside this generational clash, Hůlová takes an unflinching look at aging, desire and the machismo of the former dissident literary scene. As The Conversation's review observes, Sylvie is caught between generations she cannot fully please.

Radka Denemarková, who recently warned that “Europe is turning brown” in a powerful speech opening the Frankfurt Book Fair, takes a darker approach in A Contribution to the History of Joy. A detective investigating a businessman's apparent suicide encounters three elderly women living near Prague's Petřín Hill. Their secret archive documents sexual violence stretching back to World War II, raising questions about justice, revenge and the crimes society chooses to overlook.

First published in Czech in 2014, Denemarková's novel feels particularly urgent today. The Chicago Review of Books calls it a work that asks readers to sit with their discomfort. Both books offer a provocative companion to November's commemorations, asking whose stories become history and whose are left out.

Petra Hůlová, The Long Version, translated by Alex Zucker. Published by World Editions, 2026.

Radka Denemarková, A Contribution to the History of Joy. Translated by Julia and Peter Sherwood. Published by Coffee House Press, 2026.

ARCHITECTURE

Step inside the newly reopened Müller Villa (which survived thanks to one extraordinary woman)

One of Prague's most extraordinary homes has reopened after an extensive restoration, with new rooms to explore. Designed by Adolf Loos and Karel Lhota for construction magnate František Müller and his family in 1930, the modernist villa in Střešovice hides sumptuous interiors behind a deceptively plain facade.

Its history is just as fascinating as its architecture. After the communist takeover, the house was confiscated and František's widow, Milada, was eventually confined to two rooms of her former home. She painstakingly documented its original furnishings and interiors, leaving records that later helped restore the villa after the Velvet Revolution.

The expanded tour now includes rooms previously closed to visitors. English-language tours run twice daily, Wednesday through Sunday, and advance booking is recommended.

Visitor details: Prague 6, Střešovice. Standard admission 400 Kč; reduced 250 Kč. Book an English-language tour directly with the Museum of Prague

STREAMING

A Slavic witch gets a feminist makeover – and a Czech pop classic soundtrack

A missing rich kid, a private investigator, a mysterious older woman played by Carrie-Anne Moss of The Matrix fame, and a trail of chicken feet and bloody clues. The new Canadian mystery series Yaga, starring Heated Rivalry breakout Hudson Williams in two roles, reimagines Baba Yaga, the fearsome witch of Slavic folklore, as the subject of a darkly comic feminist thriller. Czech viewers will recognize her as Ježibaba, the witch familiar from fairy tales including Perníková chaloupka. There's another Czech connection included in the first episode: “Boty proti lásce” by Yvonne Přenosilová, the 1966 Czech adaptation of Nancy Sinatra's “These Boots Are Made for Walkin'.”

PERFORMANCE

Mrs. Dalloway is back, but book ahead

Virginia Woolf's famous hostess returns to Prague's Divadlo Na zábradlí in Anna Klimešová's adaptation of Mrs. Dalloway, a story about aging, memory, desire and the lives women might have lived. The production's November performance with English surtitles has already sold out, but there are two more chances to see it on December 29 and 30. Both are English-friendly, making this an excellent opportunity to experience contemporary Czech theatre without fluent Czech. If you're interested, don't wait until December to book.

December 29 and 30, 19:00, Divadlo Na zábradlí, Prague 1.
Tickets

FILM

Backwoods: Escaping one man's control, only to find another

In Evženie Brabcová's directorial debut Backwoods (Divočina), Klára Issová plays Marta, a mother who flees a toxic marriage with her two daughters and seeks refuge with her aging father in the Czech wilderness. Unfortunately, Dad is preparing for the apocalypse and has some rather unconventional ideas about family survival. What begins as an escape becomes a psychological drama about domestic violence, control, and the difficulty of finding somewhere safe.

In Czech cinemas since October 15.

PHOTOS

Prague lives at home in the 1970s, through a Swiss-Czech photographer's eyes

When Iren Stehli arrived in Prague from Switzerland in the 1970s, she became fascinated by the everyday lives of people in Žižkov. She photographed residents outside their homes and shops, then returned with prints as gifts. Those encounters eventually opened doors to their apartments, where she captured intimate portraits of families surrounded by their furniture, possessions, and personal treasures. Now, 50 years later, her extraordinary black-and-white photographs are on display at the Josef Sudek Studio, including portraits being shown publicly for the first time. It's a glimpse of socialist-era Prague rarely found in official histories, seen through the eyes of a photographer whose Czech roots gave her a connection to the city and whose Swiss upbringing offered a different perspective.

The exhibition runs until December 6. Official exhibition website; admission is just 10 Kč!