Prague, spring 1942. The German soldiers have marched in; the people are being violently oppressed. Seven young men are in hiding, after a heroic act of resistance. They die in their allegedly safe hideout. Who has betrayed them? Vienna, summer, more than half a century later. News reporter Anna goes on a search for traces of a bloody past. What really happened in Prague? And what was the role of the old man who took her there, giving her an obscure assignment? A novel about the power of the past, the courage of finding one's true self, and the meaning of love. A suspenseful narrative with a poetic air. "Resolution" is the protocol of an investigation. An old man, seemingly by chance, meets a young woman in Vienna. Charles Broker convinces reporter Anna to help him in his research for his memoirs set during World War II. She accompanies him on his journey to Prague, his former hometown, to shed light upon the darkness of the Nazi era. While combing through old archives and visiting sites of bloodshed, Anna stumbles upon inconsistencies regarding a certain act of resistance. The attack on Heydrich, the "Butcher of Prague", raises an irritating question: What role did Anna's mysterious employer, Mr. Broker, play in the ominous year of 1942, when it was a matter of life or death? The old man lures Anna in by giving her half-informations and making ambiguous remarks. She does not yet know what he is trying to hide from her. She does not yet realize what he is trying to tell her. But then the events take an abrupt turn and Anna is suddenly on her own. While the young woman tirelessly pursues her efforts to solve the puzzle, she gains more and more understanding for the resentment between Czechs and Austrians. Dealing with the outdated reproaches between the two nations strengthens her European identity and empowers her to mature as a person. On her search for the truth, Anna unexpectedly finds herself searching for something that might give her own life a sense of a deeper meaning. Her previously restrained relationship with Mike begins to open up new perspectives of endearment and lets her experience what is commonly known as love. The assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, which constitutes the historical basis of the novel, was marked by absurd failures and bizarre incidents. As it was the only successful assassination attempt on one of the rulers of the Third Reich, it holds a special position in history. Valerie Springer offers a "substantiated analysis of this complex historical issue". (Pavel Kohout, doyen of Czech literature)
About the Author: Valerie Springer was born in 1958 in Munich. She spent her childhood and youth in various European countries. After her graduation, she worked in advertising agencies, then as an editor, journalist and reporter for daily newspapers and magazines. Following her dream of writing independently, she withdrew from journalism. Since then, she has published several novels as well as nonfiction, numerous essays and poems, and a non-profit book for childhood cancer support. In her 30s, she lived in Jamaica for seven years, homeschooling her daughter. Later, she wrote her novel 9 1/2 Wochen (9 1/2 weeks) about the Jamaican Maroons. In her late 40s, she traveled to India to spend another seven years there, this time with her younger son. Again, she integrated her experiences and research into a novel, Vernichtung (Destruction), about the effects of globalization. Today she lives in Neulengbach, Austria. In September 2016, she started her own radio show at a free broadcasting station in Austria to voice her strong belief in the necessity of a paradigm shift. She is married. Her two children are now grown up. The novel Auflösung (Resolution), first published in 2009 in German, is based on the memoirs of her father, who was born in 1920 in Prague as a citizen of a Czechoslovakia which no longer exists. Valerie traveled to Prague countless times for her research on the background of Operation Anthropoid during communism as well as after the fall of the Iron Curtain. It is one of her many homes.