A Long, Long Time Ago and Essentially True

Fascinating and Engaging

This fascinating book tells the stories of two generations of the same family in Poland. The chapters alternated between the grandparents' experience in WWII war years & beyond, and their granddaughter's life in the mid 1990's living their dream in Krakow after leaving Half-Village, the rural home.

I found the story of the grandparents more interesting. The golden handed "Pigeon" who falls in love with the beautiful Anielica (who looks like Veronica Lake) and builds her parents a new house in their small hamlet before he asks for her hand, only for their future to be interrupted by the impending German invasion. The author fashions the tale in an almost fairytale like narrative spiced with European / Yiddish humor which I found hilarious.

The chapters about the granddaughter, Beata, reveal to the reader the new Poland; while Beata's own life is being put on hold. Instead of harsh rural life it's a harsh city life where the Germans invade as tourists and the only thing the English try to liberate are women's underwear. Along the way the reader gets to find out about the shaping of Poland and the Poles' character through foreign occupations and rapidly changing political systems.

The characters in the book are fascinating, engaging and well drawn. The grandparents story is told in a fast pace style -as was their lives, while Beata's story is told in a more steady, almost frustrating pace - as is her life. However, the author managed to make it all work and bring the story to a fulfilling ending which won't leave you empty.

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Review of A Long, Long Time Ago & Essentially True

And the Pigeon was no glupek about women either. He had learned something aobut them from his eight sisters, and if over the years he had absorbed only this one thing, it would stand as vindication that a boy does not suffer needlessly from growing up in a house with eight sisters. That thing was that a woman's heart is not bought by the currency of a man's emotion for her. A woman's heart is won over by her own feelings for herself when hej ust happens to be around, and as the hut slowly transformed itself into a three-room mansion around her, Anielica could not help but feel even more beautiful, even more worthy.

The above passage is just one of many that I fell in love with when reading this book. I laughed, I cried, I cooed and sighed all the way through. I savored every page and was saddened to come to the end of such a precious, whimsical yet heartbreaking and gladdening story.

The story of Pigeon and Anielica is a story that, I think, everyone would love to have in their family history. And perhaps, we do. Love, loss, heartbreak, passion and loyalty through some of the worst possible times. I can't say more without totally giving away the book and I want you all to read it and enjoy it as much as I did. But please, read it.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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