Ina Rilke Books

New York Times Bestseller Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress is an enchanting tale that captures the magic of reading and the wonder of romantic awakening. An immediate international bestseller, it tells the story of two hapless city boys exiled to a remote mountain village for re-education during China’s infamous Cultural Revolution. There the two friends meet the daughter of the local tailor and discover a hidden stash of Western classics in Chinese translation. As they flirt with the seamstress and secretly devour these banned works, the two friends find transit from their grim surroundings to worlds they never imagined.

The owner of a bookshop is a red-haired giant trapped in his own solitude. One rainy afternoon, Étienne Vollard accidentally injures a little girl, Éva, in a car accident. In the hospital, he meets Éva's mother, Thérèse, a struggling single parent who dreams of escaping her responsibilities. Both are engulfed in guilt: Thérèse for being late to pick up her daughter and Vollard for not stopping in time, even though he knows Éva seemed to throw herself in front of the car. Vollard visits Éva regularly while she is in a coma, reading to her, while Thérèse's visits become infrequent. When Éva wakes up, she is mute and severely weakened. After Éva is sent to a rehabilitation center, Thérèse takes a job far away and asks Vollard to visit her daughter. Vollard begins to enjoy their walks in the mountains, sharing stories and poems in an attempt to reach Éva, whom he affectionately nicknames "La Petite Chartreuse." Despite his efforts, she remains unresponsive and continues to decline. Concerned for her well-being, Vollard resolves to find Thérèse and bring her back to her daughter before it’s too late.

Years later, as the twentieth century dawns, the elderly Kwasi, now owner of a coffee plantation in Java, sits down to write his autobiography. Based on a true story, The Two Hearts of Kwasi Boachi is both a brilliant piece of storytelling and a moving portrayal of the search for identity and belonging. schovat popis