When Rachael Weiss left a good job, Thelma the cat and a normal life in Sydney for the romantic dream of being a writer in Prague she intended to stay forever. She lasted just three years, exasperated by the eccentricities of her ancestral city and its mind-boggling bureaucracy and customs.

In this surprising and generous memoir full of warmth and unstoppable sociability, Rachael attempts to write her great novel, buy an apartment (any apartment!), dodge unscrupulous employers, and perhaps find love. She gets lost in the woods with a Kyrgyzstani software engineer who wants to eat humans, finds herself leading services at the Spanish synagogue with no real idea of what she is doing and spends long nights drinking beer with a colourful cast of crazy, warm and slightly mad locals and expats.

Rich in absurdities and gentle humour, The Thing About Prague... is rife with insight, culture clashes, friendships and above all charm.