The moving yet humorous story of a girl struggling to care for herself and others in post-communist Slovakia.

Emotionally neglected by her immature, promiscuous mother and made to care for her cantankerous dying grandmother, twelve-year-old Jarka is left to fend for herself in the social vacuum of a post-communist concrete apartment-block jungle in Bratislava, Slovakia. She spends her days roaming the streets and daydreaming in the only place she feels safe: a small garden inherited from her grandfather. One day, on her way to the garden, she stops at a suburban railway station and impulsively abducts twin babies. Jarka teeters on the edge of disaster, and while struggling to care for the babies, she discovers herself. With a vivid and unapologetic eye, Monika Kompaníková captures the universal quest for genuine human relationships amid the emptiness and ache of post-communist Europe. Boat Number Five, which was adapted into an award-winning Slovak film, is the first of two books that launch Seagull’s much-anticipated Slovak List.

Monika Kompaníková is considered one of the most outstanding writers of contemporary Slovak fiction. She is the author of four books for adults and five books for children and works as a publisher and book editor for Slovak newspaper Denník N. Janet Livingstone is a translator who lived in Bratislava for more than fifteen years.

Translator’s Note
Boat Number Five