Under a Cruel Star:

"A tragic story told with aplomb, humor and tenderness."—Publishers Weekly

"A story of the human spirit at its most indomitable .... One of the outstanding autobiographies of the century."—San Francisco Chronicle-Examiner

"Once in a rare while we read a book that puts the urgencies of our times and ourselves in perspective.... That has just happened to me. In telling her story—simply, without self-pity—[Mrs. Kovály] illuminates some general truths of human behavior."—Anthony Lewis, New York Times

"Kovály's attention to the world’s beauty, even while in hell, is so brazen as to take my breath away."—E.J. Graff, Columbia Journalism Review

"[This is a book that] should never have had to be written; but since it had, we are lucky that it was done so well."—Clive James, Cultural Amnesia

"A wonderfully expressive writer.... Kovály's reflections on her personal experiences reveal a high degree of insight into politics, individual and institutional behavior, and the formation of attitudes."—Christian Science Monitor

"An extraordinary memoir.... It is impossible to read her book without the deepest admiration for her quiet, fierce documentation of the ordeal of the Czech people in our time."—Alfred Kazin