I Am a Brave Bridge

An American Girl’s
Hilarious and Heartbreaking Year
in the Fledgling Republic of Slovakia

published by
Thornbush Press
on April 23, 2021

I Am a Brave Bridge recounts the Hinlicky family’s move to Svätý Jur, the first town out from Bratislava, in the signal year of 1993 when Slovakia became independent for the first time in its whole long history. While her parents made the move due to a serious commitment to rebuilding the Lutheran church after the recent fall of communism, Sarah had other plans in mind.

Her hope was that, after a childhood of feeling vaguely out of place no matter where she went, she’d find her true home in her ancestral land of Slovakia. And sure enough, she fell in love with the place straight away. But that love was greatly enhanced by discovering the added wonders of Slovak boys… who were just as enchanted with the new Američanka as she was with them. Linguistic and cultural barriers, however, guaranteed that the course of Sarah’s romance(s) would run anything but smooth.

I Am a Brave Bridge exults in the sheer absurdity of cross-cultural adolescent infatuation, but also digs deeply into Slovak history, linguistics, politics, and religion. Meditating on perfective verbs and Marxist architecture, central European feminism and American romanticism, finding one’s vocation and the perils of nationalism, I Am a Brave Bridge at long last gives the English-speaking world a portrait of Slovakia to enchant and delight.

Move over, Provence. Here comes Slovakia!

And here’s even more stuff on Slovakia…