Synopses & Reviews
From an original new voice in fiction comes this warm-hearted debut, with echoes of Jonathan Safran Foer and Nicole Krauss. On the eve of World War II in Half-Village, a young man nicknamed the Pigeon courts the beautiful Anielica Hetmanská by offering up his "golden hands" to renovate her familys hut. But the wars arrival delays their marriage and wreaks havoc in all their lives. After the war, the Pigeon and Anielica find themselves in Kraków for a few years before tragedy sends Anielica home.
Nearly fifty years later, their granddaughter, Beata, repeats their journey, seeking a new life in the fairy-tale city of her grandmothers stories. But when she arrives in Kraków, instead of the whispered prosperity of the New Poland, she discovers a city caught between its future and its past, and full of frustrated youths. Taken in by her toughtalking cousin Irena and Irenas glamorous daughter Magda, Beata struggles to find her own place in 1990s Kraków and in the constellation of Irena and Magdas fierce love. When two unexpected events occur, one tragic and the other a kind of miracle, Beata is given a fresh glimpse of her familys and her countrys historyand a vision of her own role in the New Poland.
With the accomplished grace of a gifted storyteller, Pasulka weaves together the two strands of her story, reimagining half a century of Polish history through the legacy of one profound love affair we wont soon forget.
Review
"
Essentially True is warm and charming, and it brings together a matched pair of stories about old and new Poland together with careful craft."
"Pasulka shows the way that history's disappintments provide the strength for new growth."
Review
"Their love story encapsulates the complications and frustrations of modern Poland."
Review
"Grand in scope, yet meticulous in detail, Brigid Pasulkas generous and affectionate novel finds universal truths in both its most-dramatic moments and its most-intimate observations. A compassionate, elegant, and moving debut."
Review
"Essentially True is warm and charming, and it brings together a matched pair of stories about old and new Poland together with careful craft." "Pasulka shows the way that historys disappintments provide the strength for new growth."
Review
"Delightful … Pasulka creates a world thats magical despite the absence of magical happenings, and where Polands history is bound up in one familys story."
Review
"Their love story encapsulates the complications and frustrations of modern Poland."
--Adam Langer, author of CROSSING CALIFORNIA
Review
"One of the many gifts of Brigid Pasulka's debut novel,
A Long Long Time Ago & Essentially True, is that it transports us through the outer layers straight into the heart of Poland, brilliantly evoking the country's emotional landscape. Pasulka poignantly portrays Poland's checkerboard history iin the latter half of the 20th century and the evolution of its national character under Nazi occupation, Soviet Communism, and post-Soviet capitalism. With a passion for Poland that suffuses each page,
A Long Long Time Ago & Essentially True rings hauntingly, echoingly real."
Review
"The story of Pigeon and Anielica is consistently magical, and this first-time novelist has an indisputable talent for a tale well-told. Like any good host, she makes us feel as if we've found a small piece of home."
Review
"Pasulka brings to both narratives a warm understanding of her characters foibles as they struggle to find happiness in a land racked by tumultuous change."
"Pasulka…does a marvelous job of capturing her ancestral homelands culture, including its supple, evocative language."
"Her sweet, generous novel offers hope that her appealing heroine and a nation to often brutalized frequently by the forces of history will both have better tomorrows."
Review
"...Pasulka, an American descendant of Polish immigrants, has charms of her own—appealing characters and keen observations... The most resonant moments come in Baba Yagas everyday perceptions."
Review
Winner of the PEN/Hemingway Prize for Fiction "In this life-affirming novel of past and present, Brigid Pasulka twines the bright colors of fable with the subtler tones of disillusionment, survival, and rebirthincarnating not only her characters and their lives, but Poland itself. Rarely does a novel succeed so well in evoking place and history, especially with a story as winning as this one. A marvelous debut."
Nicole Mones, author of The Last Chinese Chef and Lost in Translation
"Two lives, a grandmother's and her granddaughter's, are knit together in a finely wrought tapestry that illuminates an inheritance of a less familiar kind. At once haunting and exquisitely vibrant, Pasulka's original tale is a treasure, transcending history, time, and place." -- Martha McPhee, author of Gorgeous Lies
"Pasulkas delightful debut braids together two tales of old and new Poland. . . . Pasulka creates a world thats magical despite the absence of magical happenings, and where Polands history is bound up in one familys story." --Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)
"Grand in scope, yet meticulous in detail, Brigid Pasulka's generous and affectionate novel finds universal truths in both its most-dramatic moments and its most-intimate observations. A compassionate, elegant, and moving debut." --Adam Langer, author of Crossing California
"Funny and romantic like all the best true stories." -- Charlotte Mendelson, author of When We Were Bad
Synopsis
On the eve of World War II, in a place called Half-Village, a young man nicknamed the Pigeon falls in love with a girl fabled for her angelic looks. To court Anielica Hetmanskáhe offers up his “golden hands” and transforms her familys modest hut into a beautiful home, thereby building his way into her heart. War arrives to cut short their courtship, delay their marriage, and send the young lovers far from home, to the promise of a new life in Kraków. Nearly fifty years later, their granddaughter, Beata, repeats their postwar journey, seeking a new life in her grandmothers fairy-tale city. But instead of the whispered prosperity of the New Poland, she discovers a Kraków caught between its future and its past. Whimsical, wise, beautiful, magical, and at times heartbreaking,
A Long, Long Time Ago and Essentially True weaves together two remarkable stories, reimagining half a century of Polish history through the legacy of one unforgettable love affair.
Synopsis
From an original new voice in fiction comes this warm-hearted debut. Pasulka reimagines half a century of Polish history through the legacy of one couple's profound love affair.
Synopsis
An astonishing debut from a promising new voice (with echoes of Foer and Krauss) that offers an epic love story
About the Author
BRIGID PASULKA, the descendant of Polish immigrants, first arrived in Kraków in the early nineties, with no contacts, no knowledge of the language, and only a vague idea of Polish culture. She quickly fell in love with the place, learned Polish, and decided to live there for one year. She currently teaches English at a magnet high school in her native Chicago, and is still a frequent visitor to Kraków. An award-winning short story writer, this is her first novel.