Torch

Set in 1969 Czechoslovakia during the Soviet occupation, this novel follows Pavol after he and his friends Štěpán and Tomáš try to deliver a protest letter to the government. Pavol’s public self-immolation brings suspicion and danger to the people close to him. Hockey player Štěpán is removed from his team and tortured, while Tomáš, who is autistic, lives with his cruel party-member father. Pavol’s pregnant girlfriend, Lída, wants to safeguard her unborn child. As their lives become increasingly perilous, Lída, Štěpán, and Tomáš plan an escape to Austria.