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Istrijské zlato
Istrijské zlato je ambiciózní a strhující historický thriller od oceňovaného filmaře a producenta Mikea Downeyho. Román se odehrává na chorvatském poloostrově Istrie a prolínají se v něm tři časové linie: období římské okupace v roce 81 n. l., partyzánský odboj během druhé světové války a současnost. Propojujícím motivem je tajemství vzácných istrijských lanýžů, které ovlivňuje osudy postav napříč staletími. Autor mistrně kombinuje historické události, místní tradice a napětí, aby vytvořil mnohovrstevnatý příběh plný dobrodružství, vášně a nostalgie.
464 pages, Hardcover
Published June 1, 2025
6 people are currently reading
90 people want to read
About the author
Mike Downey
5 books5 followersMike Downey is an author, film maker, and activist. As a non-fiction writer, Mike has published on a wide range of subjects and has garnered a vast archive of collected writings in publications from Vogue to Variety, from Screen to Stills to Cineaste, having co-founded the Moving Pictures media publishing group in the nineties. As a film maker he has worked with writers like James Ellroy, Gunter Grass, Colm Toibin, Lee Hall, David Grossmann and Vice founder Shane Smith, as well as eclectic range of directors including Agnieszka Holland, Volker Schloendorff, Peter Greenaway, Oliver Hirschbiegel, and Mohsen Makhmalbaf. As Chairman of the European Film Academy he is the co-founder of the International Coalition for Film Makers at Risk and for a decade was a Trustee of the White Ribbon Alliance. Former Thomas Ewing Visiting Professor of Film at Ohio University, in 2021 he became the Honorary President of the LUX Film Award, presented by the European Parliament, and in the same year he was he was awarded an O.B.E. in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List for his services to British Cinema. In 2022 the University of Warwick presented Mike with a Doctor of Literature degree, honoris causa (D.Litt.), for his contribution to World Cinema.
ISTRIA GOLD marks his debut as a novelist.
Mike Downey founded the UK-based independent production house Film and Music Entertainment (F&ME) twenty years ago in 2000. He is currently Chairman of the European Film Academy. Educated at the Universities of Warwick, Paris III (Sorbonne-Nouvelle), where he was a Boursier du Gouvernement Francais (French Government Scholar) and Paris X (Nanterre) where he did his Master’s degree and began his doctorate. He spent most of the eighties as a theatre director and producer in France, Germany, the former Yugoslavia and the U.K., and the nineties as the co-founder and publisher of the Moving Pictures International group of media publications. He established the prolific UK production house in 2000 as part of an IPO on the Frankfurt DAX and to date has production credits well over 100 feature films.
Mike was awarded The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list in 2021, this British order of chivalry, was presented to him for his services to World Cinema. In early 2022, nominated by Lord Putnam, Mike was invited to be a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, joining a broad-based past membership of artists and scientist members which has included Karl Marx, Charles Dickens and Stephen Hawking.
In his relatively short career as a film producer he has worked with the likes of four times Academy award nominee Stephen Daldry, and other nominees, Peter Greenaway, Agnieszka Holland, Julien Temple, Pawel Pawlikowski, Andrzej Jakimowski, Juraj Jakubisko, Fridrik Thor Fridriksson, and many other directors the length and breadth of Europe. His work as a film maker has seen projects developed with novelists James Ellroy, the late Gunter Grass, and Thomas
Keneally (Schindler's List); Academy Awarded winning writer of IDA, Rebecca Lenckiewicz, VICE Group founder and CEO Shane Smith, as well as directors like Academy Award winner Volker Schloendorff, Oscar nominee Mohsen Makhmalbaf, and Julien Temple; and writers of the ilk of Lee Hall (Billy Elliot), Colm Toibin (Brooklyn), and David Grossman (To the End of the Land).
Downey is a former tutor on Sheffield University's Creative Writing for Film course, was Thomas Ewing Visiting Professor of Film at Ohio University, a member of the Board of Advisors in the film school of Oklahoma University and the co- founder and President of the Motovun
IFF in Croatia. In 2014 he became the Artistic Board Director of the Pula Film Festival to complement his work on the Zagreb Film Festival artistic board and is a long-time board member of the Isango theatre Company in Khayelitsha Township, Cape Town. He has published several lengthy tomes about producing in Europe, notably The Film Finance Handbo
ISTRIA GOLD marks his debut as a novelist.
Mike Downey founded the UK-based independent production house Film and Music Entertainment (F&ME) twenty years ago in 2000. He is currently Chairman of the European Film Academy. Educated at the Universities of Warwick, Paris III (Sorbonne-Nouvelle), where he was a Boursier du Gouvernement Francais (French Government Scholar) and Paris X (Nanterre) where he did his Master’s degree and began his doctorate. He spent most of the eighties as a theatre director and producer in France, Germany, the former Yugoslavia and the U.K., and the nineties as the co-founder and publisher of the Moving Pictures International group of media publications. He established the prolific UK production house in 2000 as part of an IPO on the Frankfurt DAX and to date has production credits well over 100 feature films.
Mike was awarded The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list in 2021, this British order of chivalry, was presented to him for his services to World Cinema. In early 2022, nominated by Lord Putnam, Mike was invited to be a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, joining a broad-based past membership of artists and scientist members which has included Karl Marx, Charles Dickens and Stephen Hawking.
In his relatively short career as a film producer he has worked with the likes of four times Academy award nominee Stephen Daldry, and other nominees, Peter Greenaway, Agnieszka Holland, Julien Temple, Pawel Pawlikowski, Andrzej Jakimowski, Juraj Jakubisko, Fridrik Thor Fridriksson, and many other directors the length and breadth of Europe. His work as a film maker has seen projects developed with novelists James Ellroy, the late Gunter Grass, and Thomas
Keneally (Schindler's List); Academy Awarded winning writer of IDA, Rebecca Lenckiewicz, VICE Group founder and CEO Shane Smith, as well as directors like Academy Award winner Volker Schloendorff, Oscar nominee Mohsen Makhmalbaf, and Julien Temple; and writers of the ilk of Lee Hall (Billy Elliot), Colm Toibin (Brooklyn), and David Grossman (To the End of the Land).
Downey is a former tutor on Sheffield University's Creative Writing for Film course, was Thomas Ewing Visiting Professor of Film at Ohio University, a member of the Board of Advisors in the film school of Oklahoma University and the co- founder and President of the Motovun
IFF in Croatia. In 2014 he became the Artistic Board Director of the Pula Film Festival to complement his work on the Zagreb Film Festival artistic board and is a long-time board member of the Isango theatre Company in Khayelitsha Township, Cape Town. He has published several lengthy tomes about producing in Europe, notably The Film Finance Handbo
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
June 23, 2025
We humans are curious creatures — we always carry certain expectations. From the music we listen to, the destinations we choose for our holidays, the people we form relationships with… and, in my case, from every novel I pick up. Reading is the most important part of my day, so naturally, my expectations are highest when it comes to books.
As someone who moved to Istria of my own accord 23 years ago — and who has loved it ever since — this novel exceeded all my expectations. Beautifully written, it unfolds in three interwoven timelines: the near-present, the Roman Empire, and the Partisan movement in Istria during World War II. You’ll savour not only the truffles, but the full breadth of Istrian gastronomy and philosophy of life — the wines, the olive oils, the rich culinary heritage that flows uninterrupted from ancient Rome to today. The landscape itself becomes a (one of) character — vividly described topography, ancient place names in Latin, breathtaking locations that live and breathe through the story.
The novel captures the zeitgeist of each era with astonishing precision — the spirit, tension, and emotional climate of the time — whether it’s imperial grandeur, wartime confusion, or modern-day reckoning. And with that, the complexity of human nature: the beauty and brutality of people living side by side, the greed that follows power and money, and the sobering truth that no ideology — not even the Partisan cause — is pure. People are never just good or bad; each individual carries both within them, shaped by circumstance, belief, and survival.
The characters are delicately and intelligently drawn — some rooted in reality, others imagined — and the blending of fact and fiction is seamless. It’s what great writers do. And this writer does it brilliantly. And then there’s Doogie — a gentle canine soul I had the joy of meeting and cuddling — who speaks volumes about the author’s emotional sensitivity, not only toward animals, but toward people, land, and story.
What elevates this novel further is the author’s heartfelt acknowledgment of Istria and its people — his gratitude to those who helped him understand and fall in love with this place. That affection runs through every page. As Istrians, who can be proud — not only of the story, but of the fact that someone saw them just who they are.
Bravo, Mike.
A must-read for all lovers of fine literature — and for anyone who delights in the intricate layers of Istrian history, from the Romans to today, where past and present intertwine in beauty, pain, and enduring wonder. Let’s share this book widely — it deserves to be read, known, and celebrated.
As someone who moved to Istria of my own accord 23 years ago — and who has loved it ever since — this novel exceeded all my expectations. Beautifully written, it unfolds in three interwoven timelines: the near-present, the Roman Empire, and the Partisan movement in Istria during World War II. You’ll savour not only the truffles, but the full breadth of Istrian gastronomy and philosophy of life — the wines, the olive oils, the rich culinary heritage that flows uninterrupted from ancient Rome to today. The landscape itself becomes a (one of) character — vividly described topography, ancient place names in Latin, breathtaking locations that live and breathe through the story.
The novel captures the zeitgeist of each era with astonishing precision — the spirit, tension, and emotional climate of the time — whether it’s imperial grandeur, wartime confusion, or modern-day reckoning. And with that, the complexity of human nature: the beauty and brutality of people living side by side, the greed that follows power and money, and the sobering truth that no ideology — not even the Partisan cause — is pure. People are never just good or bad; each individual carries both within them, shaped by circumstance, belief, and survival.
The characters are delicately and intelligently drawn — some rooted in reality, others imagined — and the blending of fact and fiction is seamless. It’s what great writers do. And this writer does it brilliantly. And then there’s Doogie — a gentle canine soul I had the joy of meeting and cuddling — who speaks volumes about the author’s emotional sensitivity, not only toward animals, but toward people, land, and story.
What elevates this novel further is the author’s heartfelt acknowledgment of Istria and its people — his gratitude to those who helped him understand and fall in love with this place. That affection runs through every page. As Istrians, who can be proud — not only of the story, but of the fact that someone saw them just who they are.
Bravo, Mike.
A must-read for all lovers of fine literature — and for anyone who delights in the intricate layers of Istrian history, from the Romans to today, where past and present intertwine in beauty, pain, and enduring wonder. Let’s share this book widely — it deserves to be read, known, and celebrated.
November 4, 2022
PERFECT HOLIDAY READING............A taut, ambitious opera prima from an accomplished storyteller. Istria Gold is set in three distinct time frames, that of the contemporary eco-warrior, the Roman gladiator and the wartime Yugoslav Partisan - three very different eras vividly depicted and with the intoxicating whiff of the Istrian Truffle as the link that threads the three eras together. Whether describing the shame of Marco, the de-frocked UK undercover cop who is forced to return to the land of his forefathers having been drummed out of the Met, the elation of Lucia the chief dog handler in the Gladiatorial Arena at Pula on finding a way out of the death machine that is the games, or the young Partisan Nino fighting for the national liberation with Tito's forces in 1943 - we have a gripping yard that takes the reader on a rollercoaster ride through life on the Istrian peninsula through the centuries. It's far more than a historical novel, it's an adventure, it's a thriller, and it is a culinary taster as well -- anyone going on holiday to Istria should read this book - and discover there is far more than just the beaches and pina colada's to taste. An epic page turner. Thoroughly recommended.
June 1, 2024
Istria Gold is a debut novel by Mike Downey, also an award-winning filmmaker and producer. This 418-page novel is a concoction of adventure & nostalgia against the backdrop of Roman history, war crimes, and Croatian culture.
This novel spans over three different periods in time, gladiatorial fights during the Roman empire, the German invasion in Istria / partisans during the Second World War and the journey of a cop returning to his Croatian homeland. All three stories alternating throughout the novel cemented altogether by the business of truffles, an Istrian speciality.
The novel begins with Marco Mihailic, a cop abandoned by the British Metropolitan Police as a consequence of a failed mission. With his life at stake, he is forced to leave England to return to his homeland. His new life sets sail as he gets involved in his grandfather, Nino Mihailic’s family business which takes a down road towards the pit of business crimes.
Decades earlier, Nino Mihailic, a fifteen-year-old boy follows the path of his elder brother Pino Mihailic and joins the Partisans against the German invasion and brutality on Istrian land. In the thick of war & massacre, a secret worth a fortune comes along their way, the Istrian Truffle.
Read more about the book here:
https://theindianbookclub.com/readers...
This novel spans over three different periods in time, gladiatorial fights during the Roman empire, the German invasion in Istria / partisans during the Second World War and the journey of a cop returning to his Croatian homeland. All three stories alternating throughout the novel cemented altogether by the business of truffles, an Istrian speciality.
The novel begins with Marco Mihailic, a cop abandoned by the British Metropolitan Police as a consequence of a failed mission. With his life at stake, he is forced to leave England to return to his homeland. His new life sets sail as he gets involved in his grandfather, Nino Mihailic’s family business which takes a down road towards the pit of business crimes.
Decades earlier, Nino Mihailic, a fifteen-year-old boy follows the path of his elder brother Pino Mihailic and joins the Partisans against the German invasion and brutality on Istrian land. In the thick of war & massacre, a secret worth a fortune comes along their way, the Istrian Truffle.
Read more about the book here:
https://theindianbookclub.com/readers...
October 30, 2022
There aren't many contemporary English-language fiction books set in Croatia, so if you want to know more about the area - or if you're thinking of holidaying there - then this book is an ideal read. You get three stories for the price of one: the first about a dog handler in Roman Istria shows just how great an impact the Romans had on this part of the world. The second story is set against the Partisan struggle against the Nazis - Istria wasn't always the tourist haven it's become. The third story looks at the modern-day hunt for rare truffles, and how criminality has tainted the industry. All three stories are connected by truffle-hunting dogs and a piece of Roman armour handed down through the centuries. Plenty of local colour, but the exposition never gets in the way of the stories, whose conclusion is beautifully brought about at the end. Great characters, too.
November 15, 2022
Downey has the uncanny ability to switch between wildly different storytelling eras, leaving us longing for the one left behind, only to find ourselves instantly emersed in the next. Clearly, I’ve never spent much time in either Roman occupied Istria, nor the Nazi occupation years later, so the assertion I’m about to make is entirely indefensible … but his depictions are so grippingly authentic, the man must possess a time machine.
January 5, 2026
Nápad asi dobrý, propojit tři příběhy něčím společným. Ale provedení pokulhává.
Autor si udělal rozsáhlý průzkum, hodně toho nastudoval a načetl. Akorát nám to pak pořád cpe. Postavy spolu mluví nerealisticky, poučují se navzájem jako by četly z encyklopedie, rozhovory jsou neralistické.
Nejstarší příběh mi přišel průměrný, místy těžko uvěřitelný, postavy mi připadaly ploché, nerozpracované. Autor hodně popisuje, místo aby postavy definoval tím, co dělají, jak jednají.
V partyzánském příběhu na mě bylo moc odboček, moc postav (a tím nemyslím vedlejších, ale těch úplně mimo, těch, které rálně existovaly a autor v příběhu zmíní jen jako rádoby realistickou kulisu), moc nerealistického chování hlavních hrdinů.
Moderní příběh měl být míň Dan Brown a víc uvěřitelného běžného současného života. Celou dobu nám tam podsouvá, že se něco strašného děje, pak na sebe lidi míři zbraněmi a rázem se to ve dvou odstavcích nepochopitelně vyřeší.
To, co propojilo všechny tři příběhy, mi prostě přišlo za vlasy přitažené. Jako nápad dobrý, ale moc se to nepovedlo.
Co mi ale vadilo nejvíc, byl překlad. Je to druhá kniha v pořadí, kterou jsem kvůli špatnému překladu málem odložila a nedočetla. Překladatel si místy neudělal lokální průzkum, o čem že to píše. Třeba když Marco a Emina jedou na poloostrov Kamnejak - tak prý (ne)zaplatí mýto. Ne, no. Mýto se platí na dálnici. Tohle je národní park, tady se platí vstupné. Nemluvě o tom, že v zimě se tam neplatí. Mimochodem chyba autorova, ne překladatelova - jedou se tam koupat. V prosinci. No tak určitě. Už v listopadu je to tam na mikinu a voda studená.
Dál k překladu - občas bylo z české verze moc cítit, jak zněl anglický originál. Když třeba Vita ošetřovala Severovi ruce zdevastované po potyčce, říká cosi jako že to Severus má zlý, a on jí na to to odpoví "To bys měla vidět tu druhou," a myslí tím ruku. Proč, vždyť Vita druhou ruku vidí. V originále hádám bylo něco jako "You should see the other one," a autor tím myslel "Tos měla vidět toho druhého."
Překladatel se snaží udržet neformálnost nespisovným jazykem, ale občas se zapomene, tak je to takový mišmaš.
Nesedlo mi to. Ale díky této knize manžel chtěl jet na Istrii a Istrie je krásná a protkaná historií a jsem ráda, že jsme tam jeli. Bylo fajn o těch místech teď číst a říkat si, jo, tam jsem byla. Ale knihu nedoporučuji.
Autor si udělal rozsáhlý průzkum, hodně toho nastudoval a načetl. Akorát nám to pak pořád cpe. Postavy spolu mluví nerealisticky, poučují se navzájem jako by četly z encyklopedie, rozhovory jsou neralistické.
Nejstarší příběh mi přišel průměrný, místy těžko uvěřitelný, postavy mi připadaly ploché, nerozpracované. Autor hodně popisuje, místo aby postavy definoval tím, co dělají, jak jednají.
V partyzánském příběhu na mě bylo moc odboček, moc postav (a tím nemyslím vedlejších, ale těch úplně mimo, těch, které rálně existovaly a autor v příběhu zmíní jen jako rádoby realistickou kulisu), moc nerealistického chování hlavních hrdinů.
Moderní příběh měl být míň Dan Brown a víc uvěřitelného běžného současného života. Celou dobu nám tam podsouvá, že se něco strašného děje, pak na sebe lidi míři zbraněmi a rázem se to ve dvou odstavcích nepochopitelně vyřeší.
To, co propojilo všechny tři příběhy, mi prostě přišlo za vlasy přitažené. Jako nápad dobrý, ale moc se to nepovedlo.
Co mi ale vadilo nejvíc, byl překlad. Je to druhá kniha v pořadí, kterou jsem kvůli špatnému překladu málem odložila a nedočetla. Překladatel si místy neudělal lokální průzkum, o čem že to píše. Třeba když Marco a Emina jedou na poloostrov Kamnejak - tak prý (ne)zaplatí mýto. Ne, no. Mýto se platí na dálnici. Tohle je národní park, tady se platí vstupné. Nemluvě o tom, že v zimě se tam neplatí. Mimochodem chyba autorova, ne překladatelova - jedou se tam koupat. V prosinci. No tak určitě. Už v listopadu je to tam na mikinu a voda studená.
Dál k překladu - občas bylo z české verze moc cítit, jak zněl anglický originál. Když třeba Vita ošetřovala Severovi ruce zdevastované po potyčce, říká cosi jako že to Severus má zlý, a on jí na to to odpoví "To bys měla vidět tu druhou," a myslí tím ruku. Proč, vždyť Vita druhou ruku vidí. V originále hádám bylo něco jako "You should see the other one," a autor tím myslel "Tos měla vidět toho druhého."
Překladatel se snaží udržet neformálnost nespisovným jazykem, ale občas se zapomene, tak je to takový mišmaš.
Nesedlo mi to. Ale díky této knize manžel chtěl jet na Istrii a Istrie je krásná a protkaná historií a jsem ráda, že jsme tam jeli. Bylo fajn o těch místech teď číst a říkat si, jo, tam jsem byla. Ale knihu nedoporučuji.
March 22, 2023
Although I am a native Istrian and my knowledge of the history and culture of the Croatian peninsula is quite extensive, I have to admit that Mike Downey's debut novel opens up a whole new perspective on the complex heritage of the setting. For those of us who live there, it is always difficult to find a subject for a story, as we take for granted all that Istria has to offer. But here's Mike, who came to Istria and settled in a beautiful Istrian village. He has thoughts about a novel placed in his new surrounding, researched and artfully structured all the hidden gems we are blind to. The result is one of those great books that makes you use every spare minute to keep reading. Mike Downey has made me a binge reader again with Istria Gold, and for that I am very grateful. His style is so vivid and rich, a masterclass in storytelling and character exploration, that it definitely deserves a sequel (or prequel), or both. I enjoyed original English text, but I will read the book again when Croatian edition comes to our bookstore shelves!
January 7, 2023
This is a complex and ambitious novel that involves three different time-frames as well as a large cast of lead and supporting characters. However, the book carries its ambitions lightly and makes for a compelling and absorbing read. Each of the main storylines works in itself, but also forms part of a larger narrative. What they hold in common - apart from their themes - is their location in one of the most distinctive and turbulent parts of Europe. Strongly recommended.
August 2, 2025
Kniha je ze zajímavého prostředí, ale bohužel mě nedokázala dostatečně nadchnout, abych si ji užil. Přišlo mi, že ať už se dělo cokoliv, nedokázal jsem být napjatý. Autor pravidelně uplatňuje "tell, don't show", což potom způsobuje ztrátu jakéhokoliv napětí a možnost čtenáře být zaujat do četby. Přišlo mi, že se vlastně po celou dobu četby nic nědělo a ani posledních pár desítek stran mi k tomu nepomohli. Nu což, zkusil jsem to.
January 18, 2026
Kdyby nebyla kniha o nádherné Istrii, ještě jednu hvězdičku bych odebral. Všechny tři dějové roviny jsou nezajímavé, postavy mluví a vtipkují jako retardi. Příběh ze starého Říma mě obzvlášť zklamal. A český překlad podle mě knihu dorazil, I když překladatel asi nepřekládal první knížku. Ai by to ale zvládla lépe.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews