Franz Dora

Franz, Dora, the girl and the doll by Didier Lévy, with illustrations by Tiziana Romanin

All stories are true

One day, Franz and Dora wander aimlessly through the streets still caressed by the late autumn sun. In a park, they meet a little girl who had lost her doll. To console her, Franz makes up a story on the spot. The doll was not lost, but went away for a time to know the world, and he found this out because the doll, knowing that the little girl could not yet read, sent him a letter to let him know. And what does the doll say in the letter? Franz has nowhere to go and must continue the story, day after day, letter after letter.

We are in the Berlin of the 20s and Franz Kafka, the great writer, already knows his merciless diagnosis, the tuberculosis that will kill him not long after. He feels that his creative forces are dying out, and the only people left close to him are his lover, Dora Dymant, and his friend, Max Brod.

In one of the park's alleys, Franz and Dora meet Ingrid. The child cries with hot tears. With her hair cut short, she looks like a chick that has fallen out of the nest.
- Why are you crying? Dora asks and drops to her knees next to her.
"My doll," says the little girl between sobs. It disappeared.
Franz smiles.

"No, your doll didn't disappear," he says. He just went on a trip.

Ingrid looked up. She looked in disbelief at Franz:
- How do you know?
- He sent me a letter.
- Show it to me!
"He's at home," says Franz. The postman brought it to me, but if you want I'll read it to you tomorrow with pleasure.
Ingrid nods. They meet the next day to read the letter together.

(Translation: Lavinia Braniște)

The characters in this story really existed. Franz, Dora, the little girl... Franz didn't like what he was writing at all, so much so that he asked his friend Max to destroy his manuscripts after he died. But Max didn't do that. Thanks to this friend who did not keep his word, the whole world was able to discover the genius of Franz Kafka, one of the great writers of the 20th century. As for the doll's letters, they have never been found, but both Dora and Max talked a lot about them in their Memoirs . No doubt the letters also missed going on a trip…

Age group: 5–9 years
23 × 30 cm/ book with hard cover/ 40 pages.
ISBN: 978-606-8544-91-5/ Year of publication: 2018
Translation by: Lavinia Braniște