Pod słońcem

Julia Fiedorczuk

Every place has its own story to tell…

The author of this novel presents the tempestuous fortunes of a couple from two different environments: Michał, who attends an Orthodox church, and his Catholic wife Miłka. It follows the cyclical rhythm of nature, which harmonizes with the people’s lives: births and deaths, loss and pain, endurance and determination. Adherents of various religions all neighbour each other on a picturesque river: Catholics, Jews, and Tatars. They are all pummelled by the tides of history – wars, national conflicts, social and political transformations.

The whole of contemporary Polish history is enclosed in the complex story of Michał and Miłka – from the dramatic events of the war (deportations of neighbours, pogroms, the death of loved ones), through the years of stability in Communist Poland. The supporting characters are also important to the novel – the retired teacher Franciszek, a true eccentric, Marianna Zającowa, known as the devil’s lover, Jewdokia Ziemakowa, who has stillborn babies, or the sensitive Jurek Bułka, who listens carefully to the sounds from within the earth.

But the protagonists of this tale are not only the people, but the whole animate world, which the author studies from up close, with respect and environmental sensitivity. Here man is always a part of nature, inseparably linked, yet constantly reimagining it, irreversibly destroying what is beautiful, defenceless, fragile and unique, what makes the essence of this multicultural, multilingual, and changing world.

Full of epic sweep and narrative complexity, Fiedorczuk’s novel is a dense and linguistically rich family saga in which family dramas are shown against a backdrop of history. With the passing of generations in this Podlesie family, we observe how the world changes as well – first the multicultural pre-war melting pot vanishes, then the harsh times of communism strike, eventually giving way to the kitsch of capitalism. All that remains to people, as history painfully proves time and again, is to learn patience and distance from the world. Julia Fiedorczuk gives us some vivid and original portraits of some people who embody the multicultural, multi-ethnic and utterly contradictory society of Podlasie.

Release date: 2020
Pages: 352
ISBN: 978-83-08-07012-3
Rights sold: Bosnia & Hercegowina (Buybook) Lithuania (Vaga Publishers)


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Under the Sun

Julia Fiedorczuk

Every place has its own story to tell…

The author of this novel presents the tempestuous fortunes of a couple from two different environments: Michał, who attends an Orthodox church, and his Catholic wife Miłka. It follows the cyclical rhythm of nature, which harmonizes with the people’s lives: births and deaths, loss and pain, endurance and determination. Adherents of various religions all neighbour each other on a picturesque river: Catholics, Jews, and Tatars. They are all pummelled by the tides of history – wars, national conflicts, social and political transformations.

The whole of contemporary Polish history is enclosed in the complex story of Michał and Miłka – from the dramatic events of the war (deportations of neighbours, pogroms, the death of loved ones), through the years of stability in Communist Poland. The supporting characters are also important to the novel – the retired teacher Franciszek, a true eccentric, Marianna Zającowa, known as the devil’s lover, Jewdokia Ziemakowa, who has stillborn babies, or the sensitive Jurek Bułka, who listens carefully to the sounds from within the earth.

But the protagonists of this tale are not only the people, but the whole animate world, which the author studies from up close, with respect and environmental sensitivity. Here man is always a part of nature, inseparably linked, yet constantly reimagining it, irreversibly destroying what is beautiful, defenceless, fragile and unique, what makes the essence of this multicultural, multilingual, and changing world.

Full of epic sweep and narrative complexity, Fiedorczuk’s novel is a dense and linguistically rich family saga in which family dramas are shown against a backdrop of history. With the passing of generations in this Podlesie family, we observe how the world changes as well – first the multicultural pre-war melting pot vanishes, then the harsh times of communism strike, eventually giving way to the kitsch of capitalism. All that remains to people, as history painfully proves time and again, is to learn patience and distance from the world. Julia Fiedorczuk gives us some vivid and original portraits of some people who embody the multicultural, multi-ethnic and utterly contradictory society of Podlasie.

Release date: 2020
Pages: 352
ISBN: 978-83-08-07012-3
Rights sold: Bosnia & Hercegowina (Buybook) Lithuania (Vaga Publishers)