ABOUT
THE BOOK

Translated from the Polish by Maya Zakrzewska-Pim

2020 Longlist

Sonka is the story of an old woman, lonely, forgotten, and shunned by her community, until one day a theater director’s car breaks down near her house, and an unexpected guest supplies her with the chance to tell her story. And so unfolds her tale of love between an SS officer and a local girl against the backdrop of the Second World War. Everyday chores are threaded with executions, stolen moments in between episodes of abuse, lies are thoughtlessly uttered only to change the worlds and lives of two families forever.

About the Author

Ignacy Karpowicz is a Polish writer and translator. His fifth work, Balladyny i romanse, won him the Polityka Passport Prize in 2010. He was previously nominated for this award for his debut novel, Niehalo (2006), and has since been nominated for the Nike Literary Award for Gesty (2009), Balladyny I romanse (2011), osci (2013), and Sonka (2015).

Librarian’s Comments

Wish to be heard before the death. Wish to protect our story from being forgotten. Desperate catching the last words, waiting for this one and only person, to finally rest in peace. Where these thoughts in Sonka’s mind during her lovely life? Certainly she thought about it once and for the fate it was enough. Wojewódzka Biblioteka Publiczna im. Marszałka Józefa Piłsudskiego w Łodzi, Poland