Martina Formanová
(1966)
Prose writer
Graduate of the Prague Film Academy (FAMU), who has spent a lot of time amongst the Prague elite, mostly as the partner of the king of Czech pop, Karel Gott. Some years later, she skilfully transformed her experiences into her first literary work, which occupies a leading position in the sales charts.
Author of a highly readable autobiographical story, teeming with the names of famous celebrities, but mostly describing the writer’s own soul...
Skladatelka voňavého prádla (Composer of Scented Laundry, autobiographical novella, 2002)
Martina Formanová’s first literary work – a work of autobiography - depicts her as a strong personality who has managed, with unusual self-irony, broad-mindedness and wit, to give a fine account of a life full of searching, struggle, victories and losses. On the one side there is the vain, maybe slightly shallow Martina who loves to dream... about stars. The woman on the other side is uncertain and desperately looking for the man who will give her the support she so much needs. The atmosphere of Prague bohemianism and her long-lasting relationship with Czech pop-star number one Karel Gott, the beginning of a new life in America and her marriage to the famous film director Miloš Forman – these are the highlights of the book.
Foreign edition:
Zepter Book World, Serbia and Montenegro
Rights sold to:
Ulpius Ház, Hungary
Review:
“The debut of Martina Formanová may seem to be mere holiday reading that passes through the reader’s head like a landscape behind the windows of a fast train. But this book has much more to offer than that. Many people never find the courage to start living their own life and Formanová is one of those who have done so. She has sought, struggled and also devastated herself in a way, which might have helped her to find out that life can have a meaning after all, that this tight circle with seemingly no escape can be broken. To confess and bring evidence of this is no small achievement.”
(Alena Melichová, MF Dnes)
“The rich life of Martina Formanová, the wealth of her personal accomplishments followed by sharp turns taking her downhill – all this is worthy of transformation into literature.”
(Lenka Kosová, Kult)
Notes:
Extracts from the book have been translated into German (by Mirko Kraetsch) and English (by Andrée Collier Záleská).
Skladatelka voňavého prádla / Composer of Scented Laundry
