Cicho, cichutko

Ignacy Karpowicz

Keynote
One of Poland’s foremost and most
popular prose writers returns with
a subversive and sensitively ironic family
saga that poses questions about the nature
of good and evil.
Selling Points
 A remarkably original play on the saga
genre.
 A tale of Poland’s last seventy years from
an extraordinary perspective.
 A dynamic novel spanning many voices
and time frames, reflecting the realities of
a range of eras.
 An author who uses a different formal
strategy for every novel, which makes his
prose highly ambitious, while remaining
accessible.
 A tremendous combination of irony
and sensitivity – Karpowicz creates his
characters as only he can.
 An incredible feel for language, which is
the author’s trademark.
 A book largely based on true events.
Description
Michał’s parents were brutally murdered
on Christmas Eve – he was two years
old at the time and was spared because
he stayed at home. Adopted by his aunt,
he has spent all his life in the shadow of
this tragedy. How did it happen? What
motivated the killer? Fate or chance?

But the questions don’t end there – after
Michał’s death, his adoptive mother tells
her version of the story, in which her
deceased sister stole more than her fiancé.
The mutual harm reaches even further,
back to the 1950s. All this is told to her by
Mateusz, a friend of Michał’s who tries to
put together all the pieces of this intricate
puzzle. Will he manage? Is it at all possible
to make someone’s life into a coherent
and sensible story? In this delightful and
virtuosic tale, Karpowicz not only takes
us into the dark recesses of a seemingly
average family, but raises some vital
questions about the nature of evil and
suffering.
“Few writers experiment so boldly with
literature”.
Professor Przemysław Czapliński
“Softly, Hush is an alluring ballad about
the fate of an old woman. And a moving
epitaph for a friend who was her surrogate
son”.
Dariusz Nowacki, Książki. Magazyn do
czytania
“It moves the reader on many levels”.
Katarzyna Janowska, Onet
“Fiery emotions percolate in Ignacy
Karpowicz’s latest novel”.
booklips.pl
“Karpowicz shows human relationships
that are created outside of traditional
bonds and elude categorization”.
Justyna Sobolewska, Polityka
“I like his spare writing, how he plays a bit
with the form”.
Sylwia Chutnik
“I’ll be brief: the guy just knows how to
write”.
Leszek Bugajski, Wprost
Target Market
Readers of ambitious prose.
Fans of Polish culture and history.



Release date: 2021
Pages: 272
ISBN: 978-83-08-07374-2


Request manuscript

Other covers

Softly, Hush

Ignacy Karpowicz

Keynote
One of Poland’s foremost and most
popular prose writers returns with
a subversive and sensitively ironic family
saga that poses questions about the nature
of good and evil.
Selling Points
 A remarkably original play on the saga
genre.
 A tale of Poland’s last seventy years from
an extraordinary perspective.
 A dynamic novel spanning many voices
and time frames, reflecting the realities of
a range of eras.
 An author who uses a different formal
strategy for every novel, which makes his
prose highly ambitious, while remaining
accessible.
 A tremendous combination of irony
and sensitivity – Karpowicz creates his
characters as only he can.
 An incredible feel for language, which is
the author’s trademark.
 A book largely based on true events.
Description
Michał’s parents were brutally murdered
on Christmas Eve – he was two years
old at the time and was spared because
he stayed at home. Adopted by his aunt,
he has spent all his life in the shadow of
this tragedy. How did it happen? What
motivated the killer? Fate or chance?

But the questions don’t end there – after
Michał’s death, his adoptive mother tells
her version of the story, in which her
deceased sister stole more than her fiancé.
The mutual harm reaches even further,
back to the 1950s. All this is told to her by
Mateusz, a friend of Michał’s who tries to
put together all the pieces of this intricate
puzzle. Will he manage? Is it at all possible
to make someone’s life into a coherent
and sensible story? In this delightful and
virtuosic tale, Karpowicz not only takes
us into the dark recesses of a seemingly
average family, but raises some vital
questions about the nature of evil and
suffering.
“Few writers experiment so boldly with
literature”.
Professor Przemysław Czapliński
“Softly, Hush is an alluring ballad about
the fate of an old woman. And a moving
epitaph for a friend who was her surrogate
son”.
Dariusz Nowacki, Książki. Magazyn do
czytania
“It moves the reader on many levels”.
Katarzyna Janowska, Onet
“Fiery emotions percolate in Ignacy
Karpowicz’s latest novel”.
booklips.pl
“Karpowicz shows human relationships
that are created outside of traditional
bonds and elude categorization”.
Justyna Sobolewska, Polityka
“I like his spare writing, how he plays a bit
with the form”.
Sylwia Chutnik
“I’ll be brief: the guy just knows how to
write”.
Leszek Bugajski, Wprost
Target Market
Readers of ambitious prose.
Fans of Polish culture and history.



Release date: 2021
Pages: 272
ISBN: 978-83-08-07374-2


Other covers