Ignorance

A profound tale of love, exile and memory, Ignorance follows two former lovers reunited in Prague after years apart, confronting nostalgia, alienation and the truths of homecoming.

Book Specification

• Publisher: Faber And Faber
• Author: Milan Kundera
• Publication Date: 4 September 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN: 9780571215515
• Dimensions: 12.6 × 1.2 × 19.8 cm
• Binding: Paperback
• Pages: 208 pages

Book Details

Ignorance is the bestselling masterpiece of love, exile and memory in Prague by Milan Kundera, the acclaimed author of The Unbearable Lightness of Being.

Irena has lived in exile in Paris since leaving Czechoslovakia after the crushing of the Prague Spring in 1968. Twenty years later, following the collapse of Communism, she returns to her homeland and unexpectedly reunites with Josef, a fellow émigré and her former lover.

As they reconnect, both are forced to confront memories of the past and question whether their interrupted love story can truly be revived. Their experiences reveal how time, distance and history can reshape personal memories and relationships.

A profound meditation on absence, alienation, nostalgia, truth and the experience of exile, Ignorance explores the complicated reality behind the romantic idea of returning home.

Key Features

• A bestselling novel by acclaimed author Milan Kundera.
• A compelling story of love, exile, memory and homecoming.
• Set against the historical backdrop of the Prague Spring and the collapse of Communism.
• Follows two former lovers reunited after years of separation.
• Explores themes of nostalgia, alienation, absence, truth and irreparable loss.
• A thoughtful examination of how memory and history shape personal relationships.
• A profound and polyphonic work of literary fiction.
• Ideal for readers interested in European literature, exile narratives and philosophical fiction.
• Includes a translation by award-winning translator Linda Asher.

About the Author

Milan Kundera was a French-Czech novelist who was born in the Czech Republic and lived in France from 1975. He was the author of several acclaimed works, including The Unbearable Lightness of Being. He died in Paris in 2023.

Linda Asher, the translator, was a former fiction editor at The New Yorker. She translated works by Milan Kundera and numerous other major writers and received several translation prizes. She was also a Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters of the French Republic.