A middle-aged dentist is the focus of this novel about an intricately troubled family in Prague. Kristyna is divorced from a man who has since become terminally ill, her aging mother is completely dependent on her, and her adolescent daughter is doing drugs. Then she begins getting resentful and menacing letters from someone whose existence she was unaware of. Kristyna seeks comfort in a much younger man, Jan, from whose point of view part of the story is told. A New York Times Notable Book for 2002.