This book is one of the most unusual, yet starkly beautiful books I've come across in ages. The heroine, Marysia, is a 15 yr old "country mouse" who moves to a city when her father gets a job in a coal mine, and the family is able to get a apartment. The translation from Polish is truly, truly remarkable. I say that, having no basis for comparison, but the language of the characters rings completely true.
When Marysia goes to school for her last few months of eighth grade, she falls under the influence of two girls in particular. The first, Kasia, is a doctor's daughter, and a bohemian of sorts. The transformation of Marysia is made all the more poignant by the brilliance in which Tryzna captures her guiless personality and flat, affectless voice. The second girl, Eva, has even more of an influence on poor, believing Marysia.
The end of the book is devastating. I don't want to include anything that even hints at spoilers, because I do think that as many people as possible should read this book. Here in America, quite normally, we tend to be particularly cognizant of American (and British) books. The fact that I even heard of this book grew out of a conversation I had with Maciek on this subject. One just does not trip down to the library, and find books written in other countries without some searching. But, when one does find a jewel of this sort, it does tend to remain with us always.