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Life After Kafka
A novel of Felice Bauer, Franz Kafka’s first fiancée, and the story behind Letters to Felice
Franz Kafka scholars know Felice Bauer, his onetime fiancée, through his Letters to Felice , as little more than a woman with a raucous laugh and a taste for bourgeois comforts. Life After Kafka is her story. The novel begins in 1935 as Felice flees with her children from Hitler’s Berlin, following her family and members of Kafka’s entourage—including Grete Bloch, Max Brod, and Salman Schocken—as they try to escape the horrors of the Holocaust. Years later, a man claiming to be Kafka’s son approaches Felice’s son in Manhattan and the drama surrounding Kafka’s letters to Felice begins.
While taking the measure of literary fame’s long shadow, Life After Kafka depicts the magic and poison of memories, and what we cling to when all else is lost. Most of all, it illuminates the bravery required to move forward through the shattered remains of one world to rebuild life in a new one.
Franz Kafka scholars know Felice Bauer, his onetime fiancée, through his Letters to Felice , as little more than a woman with a raucous laugh and a taste for bourgeois comforts. Life After Kafka is her story. The novel begins in 1935 as Felice flees with her children from Hitler’s Berlin, following her family and members of Kafka’s entourage—including Grete Bloch, Max Brod, and Salman Schocken—as they try to escape the horrors of the Holocaust. Years later, a man claiming to be Kafka’s son approaches Felice’s son in Manhattan and the drama surrounding Kafka’s letters to Felice begins.
While taking the measure of literary fame’s long shadow, Life After Kafka depicts the magic and poison of memories, and what we cling to when all else is lost. Most of all, it illuminates the bravery required to move forward through the shattered remains of one world to rebuild life in a new one.
256 pages, Paperback
Published August 6, 2024
19 people are currently reading
294 people want to read
About the author
Magdaléna Platzová
16 books4 followersMagdaléna Platzová is a Czech writer, journalist, playwright and translator. She studied at Georgetown University, Brockwood Park School and Charles University in Prague where she obtained master's degree in philosophy. In 2001-2004 she worked as a literary editor for Czech weekly newspaper Literární noviny. She currently writes cultural journalism for Prague-based weekly magazine Respekt.
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
November 14, 2024
The month of Tishrei is over, the joyousness of the holidays behind us. With life receding to the hustle and bustle of the work-weekend cycle, it is easy to experience a spiritual drop after living with the emotions of the festivals for nearly a month. I work in public schools, and there the students and staff are preparing for their upcoming holiday season whereas mine literally just ended. During lulls in the calendar year I browse the Jewish Book Council website, normally searching for quality nonfiction featuring subjects other than the Holocaust. On a recent visit to the page, a title caught my eye. People claim that Kafka was the greatest writer our people produced in the 20th century, but he died young. Most of his work was published posthumously, and few people claimed to actually know him besides frauds. After World War II, generations of Kafka scholars emerged, which after decades lead to a Czech writer choosing to bring his first fiancé to life. Kafka aficionados know of Felice Marasse neé Bauer from Letters to Felice. Magdaléna Platzová takes things a step further by creating a novel based on the character of Felice Bauer and her descendants. As we are the people of the book, with Kafka being one of our greatest contributions to society, I knew that Life After Kafka would be a must read for me. Joyfully, this novel exceeded my expectations.
In 1935 Moritz Marasse (named Richard in the novel) had the foresight to move his family from Geneva to Los Angeles. He had already gotten his family out of Berlin because as a businessman he already experienced laws against Jews. Richard had all but abandoned his religion, but his wife Felice desired some traditions for her children to hold onto and insisted that their son Joachim (real name Henry) study to become bar mitzvah. Richard begrudgingly agreed and did experience nachas from his son on the appointed day. Less than a year later, however, the family left for Geneva even though the Swiss would prove not to be kind to the Jews either. Geneva was but a stop; the family would settle in Los Angeles where Felice’s sister lived, and Richard could somehow continue his international business with a partner situated in France. Felice left behind many secrets, ones her family would not discover for many years after the move. The secret of secrets was her relationship with Franz Kafka, a man she never stopped loving but knew it would be impossible to marry. Richard was a marriage for money, convenience, and the prospect of children, but Kafka was the love of her life, her bashert. Spoken about to her friend Grete Bloch in whispers, the children never knew of their mother’s life with Kafka until later in life. At this point, he became the ghost in the room, a man whose memories Felice chose to keep secret until her old age.
Magdalena Platzová grew up in the Czech Republic, where Kafka was revered as a native son. She eventually moved to Lyon, France, where she conducted the bulk of research for this book, which included interviews with Joachim aka Henry before his death as well as his daughter Leah and grandson Joel. Platzová included excerpts of letters from Franz to Felice in the book as well as inserting herself into chapters as she conducted her research, bridging the gap between truth and fiction. The narrative occurs in both 1950s Los Angeles as Felice reminisces and Joachim builds a life for himself as a psychoanalyst in New York with forays into the 21st century when Platzová interviews the family members. She cited jealousy from Joachim, who granted her limited time because Kafka was the one subject the brought malice to his eyes. In reality he could have been jealous of the life his mother had before she married, a life where she was young, in love, and uninhibited by children. It was he who encouraged his mother to sell Schocken publications his mother’s letters from Kafka; at that point in her life she was widowed with no pension and could use the money, regardless if Kafka meant for anyone to see their correspondence or not. I view Joachim as a selfish man who turned his back to religion and his mother’s desires. His daughter and her son were much more forthcoming and accommodating to Platzová, and it is through her interviews with them that she crafted Felice’s character, without whose trust and helpfulness the book could not have been written.
In Los Angeles, Felice and her sister Else provide for themselves following Richard’s death. They learn massage therapy and later open a bakery selling old world pastries and later open a crochet shop as well. In the 1950s women stayed home, but these older women went to work and remained self sufficient. During this time in her life, Felice dreamed of Franz and how he would have loved the fresh air of the Pacific coast. She imagined taking rides with him in her blue convertible, through orange and mango groves, and up into the mountains. The climate would have cured him better than any sanitarium, and she told him so in her dreams. Felice means joy, but by harboring secrets that continued through generations, it appeared to me that Felice Bauer was only happy in her thoughts about Kafka, the one time when she would not have to share him with the world. Her sadness trickled through the generations and left Joachim a bitter old man. Perhaps, Felice should have married Franz Kafka and let history take its course, but that chain of events did not occur, Felice choosing children over life with a starving writer. Thankfully, the world begrudgingly got to read about this courtship in Kafka’s letter, crafted in his brilliant mind for all to experience.
I have admittedly never read The Trial, the Castle, or any of Kafka’s magnificent works. For many years I have experienced a mental block with classics more than sixty years old. Perhaps it is the writing style or maybe that I can not relate to the world in which the book was written. By shutting myself off millennia of books is limiting so that is a challenge to myself in upcoming years to truly make myself into a person of the book. I would be remiss if I did not laud the impeccable translation by Alex Zucker. A translation can make or break a book, and here the words flow so it is remarkable that this is a work in translation. Colum McCann calls Life After Kafka a “powerful, kaleidoscopic literary novel.” The writing transported me to both interwar Europe and mid century Los Angeles, times in history where the possibilities seemed endless. Going into a novel blindly, I never know where my reading will leave me. Magdalena Platzová might be the Czech Republic’s Colum McCann. Her writing wowed me and fiction writers do not do that often. I was happy, joyful, to find out that more of her work has been translated into English; she is an author I will be revisiting, one who helped me get over the letdown after a joyous month of holidays.
4.5 stars
In 1935 Moritz Marasse (named Richard in the novel) had the foresight to move his family from Geneva to Los Angeles. He had already gotten his family out of Berlin because as a businessman he already experienced laws against Jews. Richard had all but abandoned his religion, but his wife Felice desired some traditions for her children to hold onto and insisted that their son Joachim (real name Henry) study to become bar mitzvah. Richard begrudgingly agreed and did experience nachas from his son on the appointed day. Less than a year later, however, the family left for Geneva even though the Swiss would prove not to be kind to the Jews either. Geneva was but a stop; the family would settle in Los Angeles where Felice’s sister lived, and Richard could somehow continue his international business with a partner situated in France. Felice left behind many secrets, ones her family would not discover for many years after the move. The secret of secrets was her relationship with Franz Kafka, a man she never stopped loving but knew it would be impossible to marry. Richard was a marriage for money, convenience, and the prospect of children, but Kafka was the love of her life, her bashert. Spoken about to her friend Grete Bloch in whispers, the children never knew of their mother’s life with Kafka until later in life. At this point, he became the ghost in the room, a man whose memories Felice chose to keep secret until her old age.
Magdalena Platzová grew up in the Czech Republic, where Kafka was revered as a native son. She eventually moved to Lyon, France, where she conducted the bulk of research for this book, which included interviews with Joachim aka Henry before his death as well as his daughter Leah and grandson Joel. Platzová included excerpts of letters from Franz to Felice in the book as well as inserting herself into chapters as she conducted her research, bridging the gap between truth and fiction. The narrative occurs in both 1950s Los Angeles as Felice reminisces and Joachim builds a life for himself as a psychoanalyst in New York with forays into the 21st century when Platzová interviews the family members. She cited jealousy from Joachim, who granted her limited time because Kafka was the one subject the brought malice to his eyes. In reality he could have been jealous of the life his mother had before she married, a life where she was young, in love, and uninhibited by children. It was he who encouraged his mother to sell Schocken publications his mother’s letters from Kafka; at that point in her life she was widowed with no pension and could use the money, regardless if Kafka meant for anyone to see their correspondence or not. I view Joachim as a selfish man who turned his back to religion and his mother’s desires. His daughter and her son were much more forthcoming and accommodating to Platzová, and it is through her interviews with them that she crafted Felice’s character, without whose trust and helpfulness the book could not have been written.
In Los Angeles, Felice and her sister Else provide for themselves following Richard’s death. They learn massage therapy and later open a bakery selling old world pastries and later open a crochet shop as well. In the 1950s women stayed home, but these older women went to work and remained self sufficient. During this time in her life, Felice dreamed of Franz and how he would have loved the fresh air of the Pacific coast. She imagined taking rides with him in her blue convertible, through orange and mango groves, and up into the mountains. The climate would have cured him better than any sanitarium, and she told him so in her dreams. Felice means joy, but by harboring secrets that continued through generations, it appeared to me that Felice Bauer was only happy in her thoughts about Kafka, the one time when she would not have to share him with the world. Her sadness trickled through the generations and left Joachim a bitter old man. Perhaps, Felice should have married Franz Kafka and let history take its course, but that chain of events did not occur, Felice choosing children over life with a starving writer. Thankfully, the world begrudgingly got to read about this courtship in Kafka’s letter, crafted in his brilliant mind for all to experience.
I have admittedly never read The Trial, the Castle, or any of Kafka’s magnificent works. For many years I have experienced a mental block with classics more than sixty years old. Perhaps it is the writing style or maybe that I can not relate to the world in which the book was written. By shutting myself off millennia of books is limiting so that is a challenge to myself in upcoming years to truly make myself into a person of the book. I would be remiss if I did not laud the impeccable translation by Alex Zucker. A translation can make or break a book, and here the words flow so it is remarkable that this is a work in translation. Colum McCann calls Life After Kafka a “powerful, kaleidoscopic literary novel.” The writing transported me to both interwar Europe and mid century Los Angeles, times in history where the possibilities seemed endless. Going into a novel blindly, I never know where my reading will leave me. Magdalena Platzová might be the Czech Republic’s Colum McCann. Her writing wowed me and fiction writers do not do that often. I was happy, joyful, to find out that more of her work has been translated into English; she is an author I will be revisiting, one who helped me get over the letdown after a joyous month of holidays.
4.5 stars
July 30, 2024
Kafka's Letters to Felice introduced us to his fiancée, and this historical novel fleshes her out. A bit over the top in places, but overall quite an engaging read. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC/audiobook.
June 14, 2024
Moc se mi líbil styl a jazyk knihy. Vykreslení postav mě vtáhlo do příběhu, ale spoustu věcí i právě postav nedorostlo do ucelené podoby - tak si vlastně nejsem jistá, co si z této knihy odnést.
August 15, 2024
Překvapivě dobré. Z knih, co jsem si po druhém pivu vybral v Knihkopci, asi nejlepší. Napůl skutečnost, zpola fikce, skákající časem tam a zpět jako zajíc. Každá kapitola je uvozena rokem a místem. O Kafkovi není v té knížce vůbec nic, což je na ní úplně nejlepší. A zároveň ho tam jasně tušíte. Smím-li vykrást Cimrmanovu teorii solipsismu, tím, že píše o všem, co není Kafka, tak ta velká černá nepojmenovaná díra uprostřed, na kterou je všechno napojeno, to je právě on.
August 17, 2024
I think this book might be best read and not listened to as an audiobook. I often found myself confused or unsure of who was speaking, what was going on, who people were, where we were physically and in time, etc. Also, I felt like the summary was decently interesting, but after finishing this I feel like this story included a lot of nothing; I was waiting for some juicy story about Kafka and Bauer to come out or something, but found myself feeling let down when nothing was uncovered. Overall, I’m not quite sure this one hit the mark so I’m not confident that I would recommend this to others.
August 9, 2024
2.25 stars
I received an audiobook in exchange for my honest review. Thank you to NetGalley and HighBridge Audio for the opportunity to read and review this book.
I was curious about this novel, unfortunately it did not captivated me as much as I was hoping it will. I couldn't connect with it and I did not feel like there is a particular conflict in this novel - there are a couple, introduced at odd places in the book, but there was nothings to capture my attention.
The novel follows Kafka's former fiancée in an attempt to flesh her out more than his letters did.
I received an audiobook in exchange for my honest review. Thank you to NetGalley and HighBridge Audio for the opportunity to read and review this book.
I was curious about this novel, unfortunately it did not captivated me as much as I was hoping it will. I couldn't connect with it and I did not feel like there is a particular conflict in this novel - there are a couple, introduced at odd places in the book, but there was nothings to capture my attention.
The novel follows Kafka's former fiancée in an attempt to flesh her out more than his letters did.
August 28, 2024
This was an incredibly interesting read. I have read Letters to Felice and when I saw this audio book available I jumped at the chance to listen. First the narrator was fantastic, there were a lot of character to keep track of and a lot of different time frames as well, but she gave each character their own voice that made it much easier to track. If you have read Letters to Felice I highly recommend, if you haven’t I recommend both .
August 1, 2024
I actually listened to the audiobook.
Excellent.
Excellent.
November 23, 2024
Upper echelon escape from Nazi Germany. Of course, their lives left behind - but a level of ease (as miserable and hard as it was) so much greater than the horrors of the masses.
January 13, 2025
It's interesting how I find books to read. This story is well researched, very well written and another introspective into the terror surrounding WWII and the hatred of the Jews.
September 10, 2023
Franz Kafka nepatrí medzi mojich obľúbených autorov. Prečítala som niekoľko jeho kníh - Proces v jednu daždivú jeseň v Bratislave aj Premenu vo francúzštine potom, čo som ju našla v antikvariáte v Lyone. Nefascinovali ma jeho príbehy, skôr som s nimi upadala do zvláštnej melanchólie, ktorú som si nevedela vysvetliť.
Nebudem sa sporiť ohľadne jeho talentu, no viac ako jeho diela ma zaujímali tí, ktorí sa dostali do jeho blízkosti. Magdaléna Platzová vo svojej poslednej knihe približuje ľudí, ktorí boli pre Kafka dôležití. Sústredí sa predovšetkým na Felice Bauerovú, s ktorou bol dvakrát zasnúbený, ale neoženil sa s ňou. Namiesto toho mal pomer s jej kamarátkou Gretou Blochovou. Tá ešte pred vojnou tvrdila, že mala s Kafkom dieťa.
Platzová nepíše chronologicky, skôr skladá po kúskoch osudy, ktoré sa prepojili s Kafkovým. Okrem Bauerovej a Blochovej je to samozrejme tiež Max Brod, ktorý sa postaral o to, aby sme o Kafkovi dnes vedeli, pretože nezničil jeho diela tak, ako mu sľúbil. V knihe takisto vystupuje Salman Schocken, ktorý ich po druhej svetovej vydával. Pričinil sa takisto o to, že si môžete prečítať listy, ktoré Kafka napísal Felice. Život po Kafkovi je vlastne o týchto listoch, ktoré Bauerová 40 rokov skrývala, aby sa ich nakoniec vzdala a predala ich Schockenovi.
“Všimla jste si, jak přátelství v exilu nabývají jiných proporcí? Naši přátelé se stávají naší vlastí, jsou jedinými svědky toho, co bylo.”
Platzová miestami píše až poeticky. Unesie nás do čias, keď sa Európa borila pod ťarchou vojny, zoberie nás aj do obdobia po nej. Pátra po tom, čo sa stalo s Felice Bauerovou, Maxom Brodom aj Ernstom Weissom. A odhaľuje to, čo by si asi iní súčasní autori/ky netrúfli.
“Kdybychom jen tehdy věděli, co nám osud chystá a jak je vzácné to, co prožíváme, viďte? Více bychom si toho vážili. Co nám teď zbývá než lovit třísky z potopené lodi.”
Nebudem sa sporiť ohľadne jeho talentu, no viac ako jeho diela ma zaujímali tí, ktorí sa dostali do jeho blízkosti. Magdaléna Platzová vo svojej poslednej knihe približuje ľudí, ktorí boli pre Kafka dôležití. Sústredí sa predovšetkým na Felice Bauerovú, s ktorou bol dvakrát zasnúbený, ale neoženil sa s ňou. Namiesto toho mal pomer s jej kamarátkou Gretou Blochovou. Tá ešte pred vojnou tvrdila, že mala s Kafkom dieťa.
Platzová nepíše chronologicky, skôr skladá po kúskoch osudy, ktoré sa prepojili s Kafkovým. Okrem Bauerovej a Blochovej je to samozrejme tiež Max Brod, ktorý sa postaral o to, aby sme o Kafkovi dnes vedeli, pretože nezničil jeho diela tak, ako mu sľúbil. V knihe takisto vystupuje Salman Schocken, ktorý ich po druhej svetovej vydával. Pričinil sa takisto o to, že si môžete prečítať listy, ktoré Kafka napísal Felice. Život po Kafkovi je vlastne o týchto listoch, ktoré Bauerová 40 rokov skrývala, aby sa ich nakoniec vzdala a predala ich Schockenovi.
“Všimla jste si, jak přátelství v exilu nabývají jiných proporcí? Naši přátelé se stávají naší vlastí, jsou jedinými svědky toho, co bylo.”
Platzová miestami píše až poeticky. Unesie nás do čias, keď sa Európa borila pod ťarchou vojny, zoberie nás aj do obdobia po nej. Pátra po tom, čo sa stalo s Felice Bauerovou, Maxom Brodom aj Ernstom Weissom. A odhaľuje to, čo by si asi iní súčasní autori/ky netrúfli.
“Kdybychom jen tehdy věděli, co nám osud chystá a jak je vzácné to, co prožíváme, viďte? Více bychom si toho vážili. Co nám teď zbývá než lovit třísky z potopené lodi.”
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March 15, 2025Nějak moc vypravěčů. Možná téma vykořenění je tam díky životu autorky dobře akcentované. Ale nabízí se porovnání s Hellou, u které i takto zpětně opět nevycházím z úžasu.
February 20, 2025
T dvě hvězdičky jsou trochu krutý, ale pak už mě ta knížka celkem rozčilovala.
Přišla mi strašně zbytečná.
Začalo to jako standardní historický román, což mi přišlo fajn. Chtěla jsem se dozvědět, jak žila Kafkova dívka po Kafkovi. Určitě to byl zajímavý život, protože v podstatě každý v týhle době měl v tom kolotoči dějin svůj zajímavý příběh.
Jenže jsem se nedozvěděla v podstatě nic moc a ještě se tam protínaly tři linie - románové postavy, reálné postavy, na kterých jsou založené románové postavy, autorka, která pátrá a píše tuhle knihu.
Navíc postavy mi přišly celkem plochý a působilo to na mě, že v podstatě jediná zajímavá věc v životě Kafkova děvčete, byl ten Kafka. Přišlo mi to k tý pani dost nefér.
Přišla mi strašně zbytečná.
Začalo to jako standardní historický román, což mi přišlo fajn. Chtěla jsem se dozvědět, jak žila Kafkova dívka po Kafkovi. Určitě to byl zajímavý život, protože v podstatě každý v týhle době měl v tom kolotoči dějin svůj zajímavý příběh.
Jenže jsem se nedozvěděla v podstatě nic moc a ještě se tam protínaly tři linie - románové postavy, reálné postavy, na kterých jsou založené románové postavy, autorka, která pátrá a píše tuhle knihu.
Navíc postavy mi přišly celkem plochý a působilo to na mě, že v podstatě jediná zajímavá věc v životě Kafkova děvčete, byl ten Kafka. Přišlo mi to k tý pani dost nefér.
March 25, 2024
Kniha (trochu se zdráhám použít slovo román) sleduje několik dějových linek: autorčino pátrání po Felici Bauerové, osudy samotné Felice a osudy jiných osob spojených s Kafkou. První linka byla nezajímavá a šlo vlastně o backstage informace k vědeckému bádání. Život Felice po rozchodu s Kafkou byl dost fádní a rozhodně to chtělo trochu víc literární šťávy. Nejzajímavější, a to i z pohledu informační přínosnosti, byly osudy dalších Kafkových souputníků a osob ovlivňujících jeho pověst. Takže celkem za pěkné tři hvězdičky.
March 18, 2023
Námět jistě otevíral potenciál pompézního provedení, kterým se ale autorka nevydala. To samo o sobě hodnotím spíše pozitivně. Hůř se mi ale vyrovnává se ztracenem, do kterého v knize příběhy Kafkových “přeživších” povětšinou vyšuměly, v zachycených fragmentech se jednotlivé postavy chvílemi rozplývaly tak, že bylo těžké orientovat se v nich; vytvořit si k nim vztah pak takřka možno nebylo.
Možná to byl záměr, netroufám si soudit.
Nicméně krásně a sugestivně psáno.
Hodnocení je spíš 3,5.
Možná to byl záměr, netroufám si soudit.
Nicméně krásně a sugestivně psáno.
Hodnocení je spíš 3,5.
November 25, 2023
Kniha o Felici Bauerové a několika dalších lidech z okolí Franze Kafky. Jde o částečnou fikci, přičemž jako autentické jsou označeny jen citace textů, kterých je (obsahově) v knize málo. U zbytku jsem, jako poněkud nepozorný čtenář, nerozeznal kde linie skutečnosti a fikce vedla. Jednotlivé kapitoly skáčou v čase a prostoru. Kniha není špatně napsaná ale nenašel jsem si tam nějakou zajímavou nosnou dějovou linii.
November 12, 2024
I read slightly more than half and decided I wasn't interested in slogging through the rest. Maggie writes like a drunk. Different times, different characters - same characters with different names that she uses now and then. First the story is about them, then it's about her. Much is redundant. I think she pulled together a lot of disparate facts, insufficient for any thoughtful discourse, and decided to jumble them up, select one, write, and repeat.
August 18, 2023
Určitě stojí za přečtení. I když jsou některé detaily, mnohdy celé příběhy beletristickou fikcí autorky, postavy, události, popis doby jsou skvělou ukázkou práce s historií, která s tou beletrií krásně souzní. Není to kniha o Kafkovi, kterých už tu bylo stovky. Je to kniha o těch kolem něj a po něm. O jeho dědictví. O tom, proč má smysl ho číst i dnes.
January 30, 2024
Mrzení! Čte se sama, ale autentických textů pomálu, postav přehršel, přeskakování v čase jimi míchá, až je z toho guláš a dva dny po přečtení nezbyde ani pachuť, ani vzpomínky. Škoda, jak píšu…četlo se to samo a záměr autorky je fajn!
April 16, 2023
Bavilo mě to skákání v různých rovinách, i když mě to jindy vytáčí. Vlastně mě nejvíc zajímala ta současnost. Hezky napsaný. Uměřeně.
April 24, 2023
Čekala jsem, že to bude více o “ústřední” hrdince. Nedokázala jsem se vžít do postav, do příběhu. Jsem ráda, že jsem to četla (jsem zase o něco chytřejší), ale nebyl to můj šálek kávy.
May 3, 2023
No, já vám nevím. Po dlouhé době si kladu otázku: "Dalo mi to něco?"
July 12, 2024
Skvělá kniha, nádherně vystavěná, empatie autorky je z textu znát.
October 29, 2024
“Dwells in the shadowy realm between fiction & nonfiction”
Confused by the jumps in time & number of narrators!
Confused by the jumps in time & number of narrators!
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