This novel is set in Czechoslovakia after the 1968 Soviet invasion. "Tomas is a respected Prague surgeon in his 30s and a compulsive womanizer. A business trip to the provinces brings him in contact with Tereza, who tends bar at a local hotel. It is love at first sight as far as she is concerned, and Tomas soon finds her ensconced in his Prague apartment. . . . His marriage to Tereza does not curb Tomas' appetite for other women. . . . Tomas and Tereza emigrate to Zurich, where he has been promised a job in a prominent hospital. [His mistress] Sabina goes to Geneva and falls into a love affair with Franz, an unhappily married professor."