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Macocha
Na Wołyniu w odludnym zamku za czasów panowania króla Stanisława Augusta Poniatowskiego mieszkają pan Salomon Dobek oraz jego córka Laura Dobkówna. Ich szczęście przerywa jednak ponowny ożenek ojca. Wobec poniżenia i prześladowań dziewczyna decyduje się opuścić dom rodzinny. Ostatecznie trafia do trupy Bogusławskiego, ojca polskiego teatru...
255 pages, ebook
First published January 1, 1873
19 people want to read
About the author
Józef Ignacy Kraszewski
350 books19 followersJózef Ignacy Kraszewski was a Polish writer, historian and journalist who produced more than 200 novels and 150 novellas, short stories, and art reviews (including painters, e.g., Michał Kulesza). He is best known for his epic series on the history of Poland, comprising twenty-nine novels in seventy-nine parts.
As a novelist writing about Polish history, Kraszewski is generally regarded as second only to Henryk Sienkiewicz.
As a novelist writing about Polish history, Kraszewski is generally regarded as second only to Henryk Sienkiewicz.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
January 8, 2021
What an absolutely riveting, unputdownable book! I have read quite a few by Kraszewski and this is the best by far. It tells a story of young Laura and her old father, living in a half-crumbling castle above a little town hidden in the forests and swamps of Polesie. Laura’s father, who has made a fortune on wood trade, is tricked into marrying an evil lady named Sabina. Madam Sabina and her minions are intent on driving Laura out of the castle and seizing all the riches of the unlucky old husband. Laura runs away disguised as a boy, gets to Warsaw, becomes an actress – and that’s just the beginning of her adventures.
The story is full of twists and turns, but what I really loved was the richness of the background, the fascinating types and characters, the picturesque places. The busy life of the late 18th century Warsaw, the fancy palace of a pampered prince, the old castle with family graves directly underneath the rooms of the living – all those settings come alive for this reader who was unable to tear her eyes off the page. I sometimes find the endless descriptions so typical of 19th century Polish fiction tedious; I never once thought that of this book, on the contrary, I couldn’t get enough of them.
Madam Sabina was a great villain; as much as I often end up being contrary and rooting for the villain against the heroine or hero, Laura and her family, or rather the community, loyal to Laura and her father, working incessantly to save them and to drive the intruders out, had my whole sympathy. There is a reason for this loyalty other than the traditional ties between the nobles and their subjects, and that is another layer of the story: Laura and her father are in fact only nominal Catholics and have nearly no ties to the local priest; they belong to Polish Brethren (Arians, Socinians), a persecuted religious minority who had been officially expulsed from Poland and had to go into hiding. Most of the plot revolves around this, and I loved this additional depth.
Love, love, love. Lots of interesting detail, fascinating and nuanced characters (yes, even the villains), great subplots, atmospheric and vivid writing.
The story is full of twists and turns, but what I really loved was the richness of the background, the fascinating types and characters, the picturesque places. The busy life of the late 18th century Warsaw, the fancy palace of a pampered prince, the old castle with family graves directly underneath the rooms of the living – all those settings come alive for this reader who was unable to tear her eyes off the page. I sometimes find the endless descriptions so typical of 19th century Polish fiction tedious; I never once thought that of this book, on the contrary, I couldn’t get enough of them.
Madam Sabina was a great villain; as much as I often end up being contrary and rooting for the villain against the heroine or hero, Laura and her family, or rather the community, loyal to Laura and her father, working incessantly to save them and to drive the intruders out, had my whole sympathy. There is a reason for this loyalty other than the traditional ties between the nobles and their subjects, and that is another layer of the story: Laura and her father are in fact only nominal Catholics and have nearly no ties to the local priest; they belong to Polish Brethren (Arians, Socinians), a persecuted religious minority who had been officially expulsed from Poland and had to go into hiding. Most of the plot revolves around this, and I loved this additional depth.
Love, love, love. Lots of interesting detail, fascinating and nuanced characters (yes, even the villains), great subplots, atmospheric and vivid writing.
Displaying 1 of 1 review