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Prague Summer
Stephanie and Henry are Americans living in Prague; she works for the State Department, he is a rare books dealer. They live the life of a comfortably married couple—morning coffee at the same café every day, social events with the same small group of friends, a little too much to drink in the evenings and a single episode of Poirot every night before bed. Until one day their world is turned upside down by the arrival from the States of Stephanie's old friend, Selma Al-Khateeb whose husband has been mysteriously arrested and indefinitely imprisoned. At first it appears that Selma has come to escape her problems, but soon her reasons for coming to Prague grow sinister and murky. Stephanie and Henry’s placid existence is turned upside down in ways they couldn’t have imagined.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published July 21, 2014
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106 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
October 25, 2014
3.5 Stephanie and Henry have an enviable lifestyle, living in literary Prague Henry is the owner of Hades bookstores, a store that deals with literary treasures, rare books. Stephanie works for the embassy, they have what they believe is a strong marriage. Until Selma arrives, Stephanie good friend from the past whose husband has been taken in the USA under the Patriot act.
It is easy to relate to a book that mentions Kafka, the cafe, the statue and his house as well as the enticing book talk and the wonderful atmosphere of Prague. When Selma arrives, she does so with ulterior motives and I have to admit to being very disappointed in Henry and Stephanie as well for her lack of judgment and her naiveté.
The last sentence in the book I thought was brilliant, yes it was abrupt but so perfect under the circumstances. Quite an interesting story set in a very interesting place.
It is easy to relate to a book that mentions Kafka, the cafe, the statue and his house as well as the enticing book talk and the wonderful atmosphere of Prague. When Selma arrives, she does so with ulterior motives and I have to admit to being very disappointed in Henry and Stephanie as well for her lack of judgment and her naiveté.
The last sentence in the book I thought was brilliant, yes it was abrupt but so perfect under the circumstances. Quite an interesting story set in a very interesting place.
July 22, 2014
Fantastic read. Not quite literature, but engaging and fresh with clean prose, well-drawn characters, and a delightful little twist. Mea culpa: I spent a month studying in Prague, I'm a book collector, and I worked in a used book store for about three years, so I closely identified with a great deal of this book; it's entirely possible my opinion of it is colored by these shared experiences. Nonetheless, I'm also a snob when it comes to writing and Jeffrey Condran is undoubtedly a great talent. Highly recommend for a light, easy summer read...
November 7, 2014
It feels like this is the third or fourth book the author has written, but it's actually his first novel. The city of Prague is definitely a character here. By the time I'd put it down, I felt like I'd gotten to know the city through its landscapes, the people who visit, and the people who call it home.
Read
June 19, 2019This was another book acquired at AWP. As a former inhabitant of Prague, I tend to be curious as to how non-Czech writers work with the city in their fiction, so I felt I should give this a try, although generally I've been disappointed by American novelists' attempts to set books in Prague.
This book makes some good choices: as the author hasn't, apparently, spent much time in Prague himself, it was wise to make most of the characters American expats and visitors; and with Stephanie a State Department employee and her husband Henry a book dealer, these are occupations that make sense for expats and help ground the characters in a version of Prague society that is heavily expat yet not devoid of Czech acquaintances. That rings true.
The action, such as it is, revolves around a visit from Stephanie's old friend Selma Al-Khateeb, whose husband has been arrested and imprisoned in the US for reasons not clearly explained. Selma figures that as Stephanie works for the State Department, she can be persuaded (directly or through Henry, the protagonist) to advocate on his behalf. This brings in something of a thriller aspect, but there's not really a whole lot of suspense or anxiety, nor is much resolved at the end.
It's not a bad book, but I wanted to like it much more than I did. I began it with a good feeling; the Prologue gives a sense of mystery and danger, and shows a nice awareness of the setting. Rapidly, though, I began to lose interest in the characters (they're believable, but not particularly interesting) and noticed more and more failures to verify that Czech words and names were properly spelled. As in, either get them all right or else make the annoying but not uncommon decision to leave off all of the diacritical marks--don't waver between the two approaches. In terms of the storyline, while there is some nice subtlety and good writing, we don't really learn quite enough about what's going on with Selma and her imprisoned husband. And although there are a certain number of references to Czech places, Czech foods, and so on, ultimately I concluded that this book could have been set in almost any non-US city, and certainly not much indicated that it was set in the summer, although as I flip it open I do find some references to summer weather. But despite the mentions of things Czech, and the references to summer weather, you wouldn't have to change much to turn it into Tallinn Winter or Vienna Spring. Now, in truth, had it not been titled Prague Summer, this might not have bothered me; I just felt that with a title like that, the city and the season need to play a much stronger role in the story.
In sum, although the author shows talent, I was disappointed. The subtle twist at the end does help explain the fact that the author has won some awards, but by the time I got to that last page, I felt it was insufficient payoff. I feel sad saying this. I wanted to be able to cheer for this book.
This book makes some good choices: as the author hasn't, apparently, spent much time in Prague himself, it was wise to make most of the characters American expats and visitors; and with Stephanie a State Department employee and her husband Henry a book dealer, these are occupations that make sense for expats and help ground the characters in a version of Prague society that is heavily expat yet not devoid of Czech acquaintances. That rings true.
The action, such as it is, revolves around a visit from Stephanie's old friend Selma Al-Khateeb, whose husband has been arrested and imprisoned in the US for reasons not clearly explained. Selma figures that as Stephanie works for the State Department, she can be persuaded (directly or through Henry, the protagonist) to advocate on his behalf. This brings in something of a thriller aspect, but there's not really a whole lot of suspense or anxiety, nor is much resolved at the end.
It's not a bad book, but I wanted to like it much more than I did. I began it with a good feeling; the Prologue gives a sense of mystery and danger, and shows a nice awareness of the setting. Rapidly, though, I began to lose interest in the characters (they're believable, but not particularly interesting) and noticed more and more failures to verify that Czech words and names were properly spelled. As in, either get them all right or else make the annoying but not uncommon decision to leave off all of the diacritical marks--don't waver between the two approaches. In terms of the storyline, while there is some nice subtlety and good writing, we don't really learn quite enough about what's going on with Selma and her imprisoned husband. And although there are a certain number of references to Czech places, Czech foods, and so on, ultimately I concluded that this book could have been set in almost any non-US city, and certainly not much indicated that it was set in the summer, although as I flip it open I do find some references to summer weather. But despite the mentions of things Czech, and the references to summer weather, you wouldn't have to change much to turn it into Tallinn Winter or Vienna Spring. Now, in truth, had it not been titled Prague Summer, this might not have bothered me; I just felt that with a title like that, the city and the season need to play a much stronger role in the story.
In sum, although the author shows talent, I was disappointed. The subtle twist at the end does help explain the fact that the author has won some awards, but by the time I got to that last page, I felt it was insufficient payoff. I feel sad saying this. I wanted to be able to cheer for this book.
July 7, 2020
I enjoyed Prague Summer, especially the detailed descriptions of the city. The story itself was just ok, though I thought the writing was better-than-average. To me, there were too many unresolved aspects of the relationships between Henry, Stephanie and Selma. Overall, I did like the book.
I wondered how it ended up on my tbr list, but the ending "About the Author" notes that he lives in Pittsburgh. I must have read about him, or perhaps a review of the book. Condran also credits Stewart O'Nan in his acknowledgements and O'Nan has written a back jacket recommenddation noting that the novel is "at once civilized and insidious." O'Nan is also mentioned in the text, as Henry speaks of contemporary authors. I loved all the literary references throughout the story. Aside from his occupation, Henry is a true and knowledgeable book lover.
The story spans about a week in the lives of Henry, a rare books seller, and his wife Stephanie, a foreign service officer stationed in Prague. Their calm, perhaps even boring, lives are changed when Stephanie's college friend, Selma, comes to visit, presumably to get away from the problems of her jailed husband. However, Selma has a convuluted plan to aid her husband, Mansour. Conviently, Stephanie has work responsibilities that preclude her from spending a lot of time with Selma, leaving Henry to entertain Selma, and succumb to Selma's charms. Did Selma come to Prague with this plan in her mind, or just take advantage of circumstances?
"...I'd like to once more in my life feel like I'm living a story worthy of pages of literature rather than simply selling other people's stories..." (225)
"Real life has sharp edges that we normally do our best to avoid but on which I have nearly impaled myself." (256)
I wondered how it ended up on my tbr list, but the ending "About the Author" notes that he lives in Pittsburgh. I must have read about him, or perhaps a review of the book. Condran also credits Stewart O'Nan in his acknowledgements and O'Nan has written a back jacket recommenddation noting that the novel is "at once civilized and insidious." O'Nan is also mentioned in the text, as Henry speaks of contemporary authors. I loved all the literary references throughout the story. Aside from his occupation, Henry is a true and knowledgeable book lover.
The story spans about a week in the lives of Henry, a rare books seller, and his wife Stephanie, a foreign service officer stationed in Prague. Their calm, perhaps even boring, lives are changed when Stephanie's college friend, Selma, comes to visit, presumably to get away from the problems of her jailed husband. However, Selma has a convuluted plan to aid her husband, Mansour. Conviently, Stephanie has work responsibilities that preclude her from spending a lot of time with Selma, leaving Henry to entertain Selma, and succumb to Selma's charms. Did Selma come to Prague with this plan in her mind, or just take advantage of circumstances?
"...I'd like to once more in my life feel like I'm living a story worthy of pages of literature rather than simply selling other people's stories..." (225)
"Real life has sharp edges that we normally do our best to avoid but on which I have nearly impaled myself." (256)
April 16, 2018
Prague Summer begins with the defenestration of a dark-haired woman wearing a green dress. It is literally the first thing that happens, so you have no concept of what’s going on other than the fact that this woman has died.
After this dramatic opening, the novel shifts over to an introduction of the main character, Henry, and his wife, Stephanie. Henry is a bookshop owner and rare books dealer, and Stephanie is a diplomat for the US government. They both love living in Prague, and gush a little bit about how wonderful the city is as they are stuck in traffic on their way to a party.
We get the feeling that their lives have been fairly uneventful so far, but that things are about to change. With a strange amount of foreboding, Stephanie tells Henry that her friend Selma is coming to stay with them for a bit. Selma’s husband has been arrested by the FBI, and Stephanie comments that it’s important for Selma to be surrounded by people who believe in his innocence.
And then after a bit more plot, the story just ends. It does not circle back to the death at the beginning. It does not even hint at how the story might continue and eventually end up there. The reader can make a guess about who the mystery woman is based the rest of the book, but we get very little insight into why.
Other than the ending, the story is engaging and easy to read. Descriptions of Prague make you want to hop on a plane for some beer, heavy comfort food, and scenic wandering. The literary references are a little smug, even for me (an English Literature major), but overall, book lovers will enjoy the attention to detail.
After this dramatic opening, the novel shifts over to an introduction of the main character, Henry, and his wife, Stephanie. Henry is a bookshop owner and rare books dealer, and Stephanie is a diplomat for the US government. They both love living in Prague, and gush a little bit about how wonderful the city is as they are stuck in traffic on their way to a party.
We get the feeling that their lives have been fairly uneventful so far, but that things are about to change. With a strange amount of foreboding, Stephanie tells Henry that her friend Selma is coming to stay with them for a bit. Selma’s husband has been arrested by the FBI, and Stephanie comments that it’s important for Selma to be surrounded by people who believe in his innocence.
And then after a bit more plot, the story just ends. It does not circle back to the death at the beginning. It does not even hint at how the story might continue and eventually end up there. The reader can make a guess about who the mystery woman is based the rest of the book, but we get very little insight into why.
Other than the ending, the story is engaging and easy to read. Descriptions of Prague make you want to hop on a plane for some beer, heavy comfort food, and scenic wandering. The literary references are a little smug, even for me (an English Literature major), but overall, book lovers will enjoy the attention to detail.
February 28, 2021
I was hoping that I would really enjoy this book. I have several friends from Prague and I was so interested in reading a story set in that city. The writing was very descriptive and evocative and the story was intriguing. However the author seems so pretentious as did his characters. I really found that put me off of the book. I almost didn’t finish reading it but then got hooked by the story. It was so very obviously written from the male perspective that I felt it was very hard to relate to either the male or female characters. His lusting after his wife’s friend while she was in a vulnerable state was kind of creepy. The twist near the end of the story was well done yet overall I found the book disappointing.
August 25, 2019
I thoroughly enjoyed this novel set in Prague. Henry and Stephanie are Americans who live and work in the city--he runs a rare book shop, she's in the US Foreign Service--and they are visited by a friend who needs there help. (A stranger comes to town.) The friend's story is compelling and so is the way Henry, the main character, interacts with the city and the various characters who are his customers.
February 28, 2023
In Condran's stunning novel, the beauty, history, and mystery of Prague haunt and intoxicate the main characters who become lost in the complications of desire, friendship, wealth, and marriage in a city that they cannot claim as their own. The idiosyncrasies of setting ring just as true as the idiosyncratic relationships woven between each of these fully realized characters.
April 8, 2021
The opening of the book offers a hook that smartly baits the reader. Unfortunately, the ending left me unfulfilled and a bit confused. This is my first Jeffrey Condran experience and I can’t say that I’m left wanting more.
April 11, 2019
Interesting read, though when I went to book club for the discussion, I realized the book I read was wrong! Should have read Prague Spring by Mawer!
July 30, 2019
Beautifully written and carefully crafted, one can feel themselves in the middle of the city. It is honest and unapologetic about life and all its complexities. A Must read.
October 13, 2014
American bookseller living in Prague...or, as I call it, my immediate future.
Looking forward to reading this.
________________________________________
I have either rounded up or rounded down with my rating of three stars; I'm not sure which it is. And this indecision basically illustrates my entire relationship with the book.
In a way, it should have been the perfect book for someone of my description. I am an American expatriate bookseller living and working in Prague. I love literature; I love history; I am able to spend much time philosophising about life; I help my friends when I can, and yet I am no stranger to pretension. So if I don't understand and find a certain degree of meaning in this book, who will?
But, the thing is, I'm not enough of an American to agree with Henry Marten, the narrator, in his analysis of the country, and despite my pure Czech ancestry I am not Czech enough, either, to belong in his content and exotic description of the city. I am too young, too inexperienced with life's fluctuations, too unmarried, too naive to identify with Henry Marten. Sure, I can keep up with his allusions - when he references Gregor Samsa on one page, Polonius from Hamlet on the next, and the Duke of Edinburgh on the third, I am right there with him. But he loses me when his philosophy becomes distastefully pretentious, and when that pretension then borders on the ridiculous.
So, I was never sure on who the desired audience for this book might be. The cover spoke to me the moment I saw it, in its beauty, and some of the writing in the book really is lovely. But at some point I realised that, no matter how the book was going to end, I would be dissatisfied with the conclusion.
And I was right.
Looking forward to reading this.
________________________________________
I have either rounded up or rounded down with my rating of three stars; I'm not sure which it is. And this indecision basically illustrates my entire relationship with the book.
In a way, it should have been the perfect book for someone of my description. I am an American expatriate bookseller living and working in Prague. I love literature; I love history; I am able to spend much time philosophising about life; I help my friends when I can, and yet I am no stranger to pretension. So if I don't understand and find a certain degree of meaning in this book, who will?
But, the thing is, I'm not enough of an American to agree with Henry Marten, the narrator, in his analysis of the country, and despite my pure Czech ancestry I am not Czech enough, either, to belong in his content and exotic description of the city. I am too young, too inexperienced with life's fluctuations, too unmarried, too naive to identify with Henry Marten. Sure, I can keep up with his allusions - when he references Gregor Samsa on one page, Polonius from Hamlet on the next, and the Duke of Edinburgh on the third, I am right there with him. But he loses me when his philosophy becomes distastefully pretentious, and when that pretension then borders on the ridiculous.
So, I was never sure on who the desired audience for this book might be. The cover spoke to me the moment I saw it, in its beauty, and some of the writing in the book really is lovely. But at some point I realised that, no matter how the book was going to end, I would be dissatisfied with the conclusion.
And I was right.
Read
August 18, 2015This is a debut novel, a thriller, which kept me on the edge of my seat!
The book begins with the story of six female friends, who, post-college, shared a house together on Coventry Drive, in the U.S.A. This house was the focal point for fun and glamour, and a testing ground for any potential man friends. All the girls weighed in on each other's dates!
One of the girls, Stephanie, married Henry Martin, and moved to Prague. Stephanie is a career diplomat assigned to the State Department at the U.S. Embassy in Prague. Henry is a rare book dealer who can work anywhere. He opens a book store called, of all things, "Hades."
Fast forward some years, and one of Stephanie's friends from the Coventry Drive house, Selma, comes to visit, ostensibly to recover from a crisis. Selma's husband, Mansour Al-Khatoub was arrested under the Patriot Act and jailed in the US for unknown reasons. He was there on a work visa, and Selma claims he was arrested merely for being an Arab in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Selma says she has come to Prague to escape from her husband's grim fortune, and while she is there, never ceases lobbying U.S. congressmen and senators, hoping they can secure her husband's release.
It turns out that she also has an ulterior motive behind her visit to her old pal Stephanie and her suggestible husband Henry - Selma plans, through whatever means necessary, to convince Henry that his wife Stephanie should use her considerable connections and influence at the Embassy to get Mansour released.
Good writing, suspense, an intriguing storyline about the rare book world, and lots to think about in terms of friendships and loyalties - what would one do (or not do) for a friend, or a lover?
- Nancy
The book begins with the story of six female friends, who, post-college, shared a house together on Coventry Drive, in the U.S.A. This house was the focal point for fun and glamour, and a testing ground for any potential man friends. All the girls weighed in on each other's dates!
One of the girls, Stephanie, married Henry Martin, and moved to Prague. Stephanie is a career diplomat assigned to the State Department at the U.S. Embassy in Prague. Henry is a rare book dealer who can work anywhere. He opens a book store called, of all things, "Hades."
Fast forward some years, and one of Stephanie's friends from the Coventry Drive house, Selma, comes to visit, ostensibly to recover from a crisis. Selma's husband, Mansour Al-Khatoub was arrested under the Patriot Act and jailed in the US for unknown reasons. He was there on a work visa, and Selma claims he was arrested merely for being an Arab in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Selma says she has come to Prague to escape from her husband's grim fortune, and while she is there, never ceases lobbying U.S. congressmen and senators, hoping they can secure her husband's release.
It turns out that she also has an ulterior motive behind her visit to her old pal Stephanie and her suggestible husband Henry - Selma plans, through whatever means necessary, to convince Henry that his wife Stephanie should use her considerable connections and influence at the Embassy to get Mansour released.
Good writing, suspense, an intriguing storyline about the rare book world, and lots to think about in terms of friendships and loyalties - what would one do (or not do) for a friend, or a lover?
- Nancy
October 13, 2014
Disappointing. Someone falls from a window at the beginning of the book, although by the end, you really aren't sure who (or why) or what that has to do with anything, except, it's a weird way to begin a book. Man cheats on faithful wife, author expects you will somehow identify with that. Woman he cheats with is a friend of his wife and is in some sort of trouble, or, rather, her husband is. Detained by the US government, but, you never really learn just exactly why (sort of like how they plan on dealing with most people in the future, apparently).
So you never find out just WHY Mansour is in jail, and you never really know whether or not Selma is/was the person who falls out the window, and it's never really resolved either, what it is just that the main character wants his wife to know, at the end. "I have something to tell you" he says, and then it's just a long page of narrative without a confession to the finish. I hope these people (author, publisher, typesetter) were all better in the first edition than the galley proofs (of which I have a copy)- notable misspellings and bad typsetting abounded.
So you never find out just WHY Mansour is in jail, and you never really know whether or not Selma is/was the person who falls out the window, and it's never really resolved either, what it is just that the main character wants his wife to know, at the end. "I have something to tell you" he says, and then it's just a long page of narrative without a confession to the finish. I hope these people (author, publisher, typesetter) were all better in the first edition than the galley proofs (of which I have a copy)- notable misspellings and bad typsetting abounded.
October 20, 2014
I thought this was a very good read but not quite 4 stars. (I see other reviewers agree with me.) The story and intrigue are interesting - a woman, best friends, of Stephanie (an American foreign service employee) turns up in Prague after her husband (from the Middle East, as is the friend) is arrested on terrorism-related charges. The evocation of Prague is enchanting (tho I've never been there so don't know how accurate any of it is.) But the relationships between the three protagonists are over-wrought and don't feel real. I did really enjoy the depiction of Henry's life as a rare book dealer and wish him luck with his career.
September 10, 2014
Fine debut novel, a sort of domestic drama with thriller overtones about an ex-pat American bookseller in post-9/11 Prague and his wife, a State Department diplomat. Their lives are gradually upended by the appearance of an old friend, an American Muslim woman whose husband is in indefinite detention by the U.S. government. It's a book largely about books -- the protagonist's love of them, and the story's playing-out in the figurative shadows of Kundera, "To the Lighthouse," Cyrano and, of course, Kafka. Strong first-person storytelling, lots of wit, a sneakily shattering conclusion.
August 21, 2014
It took me a couple of chapters to settle into Prague, a foreign city in every way, and into Henry and Stephanie's life there, but once I did, I couldn't put Prague Summer down. The characters and plot are ordinary enough to relate to yet extraordinary enough to be mesmerized by. Condran lets the reader into Henry's head, but more importantly, into his heart under tense circumstances. Great read!
August 30, 2015
I loved that Prague is a central character in this book and it is the area of Prague that I am very familiar with. Beautiful writing about the city. I loved that there are so many literary references in the book by the main character, Henry, although I did not like him much. I was confused through the entire book because I thought it was a thriller or murder mystery when I read the prologue. Who is the dead woman in the prologue? Is it Selma? It left me confused.
July 27, 2016
From his first thought of her, Henry is controlled. The poor guy is weak, adolescent, apolitical and vulnerable. It's not so much that he's led around by or thinks with his member, as that he is powerless to resist. At one time this state was heart-rending romanticism. In 2016, he seems more like a tool. Well-crafted tale here that did not bowl me over in the way or to the extent that I expected.
September 20, 2014
Good. I didn't "love" the hero. He seemed to be a fairly flimsy character who chooses his values by watching others & their responses. Seemed like he had a 7 year itch and when he was weak essentially planted his faults on others. Didn't much care for the ending either.
January 1, 2015
Stephanie and Henry are Americans living in Prague, he as a rare bookseller, she as a diplomat. When her old roommate comes to visit after her husband has been arrested for terrorism their lives are turned upside down. Is Selma seeking solace with friends, or does she have an ulterior motive?
April 1, 2015
Wow, what a pleasant and satisfying read. I loved it. Prague is a main character in this novel and the way the author describes it is magnificent.
The characters are multidimensional and very well-developed.
The characters are multidimensional and very well-developed.
October 25, 2015
Loved This Book!
Prague Summer was interesting on several levels. The story was great and while one knew where it was heading, the end was still a surprise. Especially if you've been to Prague, you'll recognize some of the landmarks.
Prague Summer was interesting on several levels. The story was great and while one knew where it was heading, the end was still a surprise. Especially if you've been to Prague, you'll recognize some of the landmarks.
August 21, 2015
Thought the author captured the experience of living in Prague. Enjoyed the literary as well - main character owns a used and rare English bookstore in Prague. I thought the ending was a bit of a let down. 3 1/2 stars.
January 24, 2016
Not my favorite. Very strange beginning, that really didn't ever tie into the story. The characters in my opinion were not developed... and everything seemed to just skim the surface. I had a tough time finishing this one.
November 7, 2014
I enjoyed this very much. It has a really strong sense of place, engaging characters, and a really compelling plot.
December 1, 2014
I am not usually really interested in this genre, but the writing was good and the storyline was pretty good and kept my interest. 3 stars.
October 2, 2014
Great read during a trip to Prague. Quick read too.
September 28, 2015
The author uses an creepy narrator to wax poetic about Prague.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews