Keynote
The latest novel by the bestselling author
of The Girl in the Red Coat. This time,
the author takes us back to the world of
her grandmother, in a fictionalized journal
of 1938–1939.
Selling Points
 The latest book by one of Poland’s most
important writers – expected, as always, to
be a major literary event.
 This time Ligocka leaves her own
biography behind to describe the last
months before the outbreak of the war
through her grandmother’s eyes.
 Her grandmother’s journals appeared
in her earlier books, making this an
intriguing development in the family
history.
 A remarkable testimonial of the history
of the Holocaust written from a highly
individual, personal perspective.
 A tale of a world soon to be destroyed –
a prewar, diverse, and multicultural
Cracow, a life full of beauty and taste.
 Offers an intriguing juxtaposition
between the fate of her grandmother and
the pandemic of 2020 – the author wrote
this book in isolation and solitude, unsure
of what the next day would bring.
Description
The last year before the catastrophe
that changed the destinies of millions of

people forever – from the summer of 1938
to the summer of 1939. It was a strange
year, full of tensions and anxieties,
yet surprisingly ordinary – the calm
before the storm. Ligocka takes us to
this odd time through the journal of
her grandmother, Anna Abrahamerowa,
familiar to readers of The Good Child.
This time the author is less portraying
her own traumas than reconstructing
the reality and painful experiences of her
grandmother, a fifty-year-old woman who
had to abandon everything from one day
to the next and fight for survival – her
own and her family’s. But before disaster
struck, the world was operating normally –
people loved and hated one another, they
were full of hopes and anxieties, they
worked hard and then went on vacation.
Ligocka applies incredible fidelity and
sensitivity to the task of reconstructing
the reality of a prewar Cracow hanging
on the precipice, comparing it to today’s
pandemic crisis. This book was written
during the global crisis, in isolation and
trepidation for the future: both her own
and the whole world’s. This is a moving
tale about the power of will, determination
and, in spite of everything, the hope for
a better future.
Target Market
Readers of Roma Ligocka’s novels.
Readers of ambitious psychological
women’s and dramatic prose.
Those interested in the history of
European culture.
Those interested in biography writing,
especially Holocaust testimonies.