Confessions of an Ageing Wreck Who Has a Dog

Dita is at the end of her tether

On the day of her birth, the drunken fates Anger, Saliva and Leaven predicted that our protagonist, Dita Hamáčková, would be an absolute good-for-nothing and would marry a prize-winning alcoholic from the borderlands, a catastrophic being. And so it came to pass, for—as we all know—you cannot escape your fate. The neurotic Dita is celebrating her fiftieth birthday, which is a big enough disaster for a woman in itself, but she also has to deal with an unexpected gift from her daughter—a completely unmanageable hunting dog. Within moments, the dog demolishes the already bleak interior of her country house and turns her life upside down. But other troubles are piling up: due to her dire financial situation, Dita is desperately looking for a job. She finds one in an obscure publishing house full of eccentric employees. Add to that her husband's passion for alcohol and motorbikes, and the fact that her daughter and son-in-law have sold their flat and are moving in with their toddler into Dita's tiny house, and it's no wonder that our protagonist is at the end of her tether.