Kafka and the Doll by Larissa Theule

One day Franz Kafka and his friend Dora Diamant were walking through a park in the city of Berlin when they encountered a young girl crying. When Kafka questioned her as to why she was crying, she told him her doll, Soupsy was lost. Kafka told the girl, whose name was Irma, that Soupsy was not lost but simply travelling as dolls like to do. He also told her  that Soupsy had written her a letter but that it was at home in the pocket of his coat. As a volunteer postman, Kafka explained that he would bring the letter to her tomorrow. 

The next day Kafka brought Soupsy's letter to Irma. It revealed that Soupsy had impulsively jumped into the basket of a passing bicycle and was now on her way to hiking via a train! Kafka assures Irma that Soupsy will write again because "People on adventures like to tell about them."

A second letter comes, followed by a third which reveals that Soupsy is in Paris, eating croissants!  

Soupsy travels to many different places including England, Barcelona, Morocco, and Egypt. Although she does many exciting things in each of these countries, her letters get shorter.

Irma notices that Kafka has a cough like what her grandfather had. Then one day Kafka does not show up at the park. After several days, Dora arrives at the park with a letter from Soupsy. Dora explains to Irma, that Herr Kafka has a headache behind his eyes. Finally one day Kafka comes to the park. He is pale and Irma suspects this will be the last time. The letter from Soupsy states that she is going on an expedition to Antarctica. It will be her last letter as she will not be able to write from there. Soupsy tells Irma she was proud to be her doll.

Irma tells Herr Kafka that some day she wants to travel like Soupsy and experience the things she did. Kafka gives her a notebook and tells her to write about her adventures so that they remain. The two part ways, "...one to play and explore and one, finally to sleep."

Discussion

Larissa Theule has crafted an touching fictional account of an event that Dora Diamant, Kafka's lover related years after his death. The identity of the young girl was never discovered and the letters were lost, so only Dora's account survives. Theule has adapted the story to fit modern expectations. In her Author's Note at the back of the picture book, Theule writes, "Dora said Kafka struggled to know how to end the letter campaign and finally decided to have the doll get married and start a family of her own. Most likely the reflected the girl's understanding of the world and her place in it, for girls in the 1920s had few options for their futures apart from marriage. But times have changed, and I felt the ending should reflect the wide world of possible futures available to children (and dolls!) today, which is why I sent Soupsy on a scientific expedition to Antarctica."

Theule's Soupsy is likely nothing like that of Kafka because as Theule states, "...no one can write like Kafka." The letters written to a lonely girl, were Kafka's attempt to "heal a child's wounded heart". He would have understood her pain, given his own difficult upbringing under a domineering father. Accompanying her version of this story is the digitally created artwork of Rebecca Green.

You can read more about Franz Kafka at Franz Kafka Online.

Book Details:

Kafka and the Doll by Larissa Theule
New York: Penguin Random House LLC      2021