Keynote
For decades, the story of these three
women has been ignored – three women
without whom Poland’s most important
literary work would not exist. Behind
the scenes of Poland’s most famous
wedding.

Selling Points
 A feminist reinterpretation of the most
important text in Polish culture.
 A story of three women who until now
have stood in the shadow of famous men.
 The history of Poland at the turn of
the 19th and 20th centuries from a totally
new, unexpected perspective.
 The stormy fates of a legend of the Young
Poland period and the people (above all
the overlooked women) who created it.
 A story of class divisions, social
advancement, and its costs.
 A panoramic view of Central European
society at the end of an era.

Description
On November 20, 1900, the small village
of Bronowice, outside of Cracow, hosted
the most famous wedding in the history
of Poland, which would later become
the basis for Stanisław Wyspiánski’s play
The Wedding. Lucjan Rydel, a well-known
poet and playwright, married Jadwiga
Mikołajczyk, the daughter of peasants.
Jadwiga’s two sisters were also with men

from a different world – intellectuals from
the city, who were fascinated by the exotic
countryside their partners grew up in.
The language, the clothes, the beliefs
and superstitions: it all boxed the three
sisters into the role of colorful additions to
the men’s biographies. With boldness and
skill, Śliwińska overturns this stereotype,
showing that these women, though for
years unappreciated, left an indelible mark
on Polish culture. Without them, not only
would the nation’s most famous wedding
never have occurred, but the fate of Polish
culture itself would have turned out
completely different.
PRAISE
“Śliwińska has written about the lives of
three girls who came from a very different
environment than the one they ended
up in, alongside men who were already
well known in their time, struggling with
the reception of Kraków society while
building their own independence”.
Anna Piątkowska, Gazeta Krakowska
“This book isn’t merely the history of three
women. It’s a piece of Poland’s history,
drawn from their perspective – a history
that begins in 1890, with the wedding of
Anna and Włodzimierz, and ends in 1954
with the funeral of the oldest Mikołajczyk
sister”.
Adam Kraszewski, Na Temat

Target Market
Fans of Polish culture.
Readers of the biographies of women
who shaped reality while standing in
the shadows.