Ignorance

First edition in English. Slim 8vo. Pp. [iv], 195, [8, blank]. Blue paper-covered boards, lettered in cream to spine; olive green endpapers. Jacket design by Marry van Barr with cover art by Marie José Paz (priced £16.99 on the front flap).

Translated from the French by Linda Asher, recipient of the 2003 Scott Moncrieff Prize for French to English translation. Originally published in 2000 as L'ignorance by Éditions Gallimard.

After settling in France in 1975, Kundera dramatically revised his earlier Czech output – and since 1990 started composing directly into French – to the extent that the French editions are now regarded by the author as the authorised texts. Since 1987 all his books published by Gallimard bear the note: entièrement revue par l'auteur, a la même valeur d'authenticité que le texte tchèque (entirely reviewed by the author, having the same value of authenticity as the Czech text).

A 2002 New York Times Notable Book. A man and a woman meet by chance on their return to their Czech homeland after twenty years of self-imposed exile. A Homeric tale of exile, memory and homecoming. "Erudite and playful... An impassioned account of the émigré as a character on the stage of European history." –Maureen Howard, New York Times Book Review