Djevojka s Leicom

The novel begins on August 1, 1937 in Paris: a funeral procession with red flags follows the coffin of Gerda Taro, and Robert Capa (Andor Friedmann), her partner and lover, leads the procession in deep mourning.

Janeczek does not narrate linearly, but through the voices of several characters – friends, lovers, colleagues, admirers and random witnesses – who remember Gerda at different times. The voices intertwine in three main parts, creating a mosaic of fragments, memories and perspectives.

Gerda was born into a Jewish family in Stuttgart (Leipzig). As a young leftist and anti-fascist, she fled Nazi Germany in 1933 for Paris. There she met the Hungarian photographer Andor Friedmann (later Robert Capa) – they invented the joint pseudonym "Robert Capa" to sell photographs (she as an "assistant"). Gerda quickly established herself: she learned to take photos with a Leica, became an independent reporter, filmed demonstrations, refugees, the Paris Fair in 1937.

The key part is the Spanish Civil War (1936–1937): Gerda and Capa go to the Republican side, film the battles, civilians, wounded. Her photographs become iconic – brave, empathetic, focused on people, not just action. Gerda is an innovator: the first woman on the front with a camera, anti-fascist, seductress, brave and charismatic.

The novel ends with her death on July 26, 1937 near Bruneta – she was killed in a tank attack (or accident) at the age of 27. Many voices mourn her, but also expose the myth: she is not only Capa's muse, but an independent artist and heroine.

Janeczek subtly reconstructs Gerda through details, anecdotes, emotions – this is a book more about time (the 1930s, the rise of fascism, anti-fascist resistance, exile, love) than a linear biography. The style is lyrical, fragmentary, emotional – a novel about memory, identity, the courage of a woman in a male world of war and art.