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Die schöne Frau Seidenman
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The Beautiful Mrs Seidenman

Published by Diogenes as Die schöne Frau Seidenman
Original Title: Poczatek

A European contemporary classic full of poetry and subtle humour, and at the same time a sociopolitical work. More than half a million Diogenes copies have been sold so far.

The winner of the ›Wiadnomości Literackie‹ Award 1988, now complemented with an introduction by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

The year is 1943. In German-occupied Warsaw, what was once the largest Jewish community in Europe has been almost entirely deported. A few individuals manage to flee the ghetto, including the beautiful Irma Seidenman, because she possesses three advantages: a forged passport, blonde hair and blue eyes. When she is recognised one day by a Nazi informant, the drama really begins. Will Irma Seidenman be saved?


General Fiction
272 pages
1988

978-3-257-01758-8

World rights are handled by Diogenes
(except Polish rights)

Film rights are handled by Diogenes

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»An exceptional storyteller, Szczypiorski passionately recreates the tumultuous war years for us…A rare find.«
Publishers Weekly

»The authorial voice here – now gentle, now sardonic, but always piercingly omniscient – takes unique advantage of its eighties' perspective to create an unforgettable group portrait.«

Kirkus Reviews, New York
»There are accidental heroes and inadvertent villains, surprising and unexpected switches that lend the book its extraordinary originality.«
Los Angeles Times Book Review

»His novel is a masterful accomplishment, written with the kind of suspense that makes it impossible to put down. All this is achieved with what seems like effortless elegance, poetry and the muted echo of an almost Romantic irony.«

Neue Zürcher Zeitung

»A masterpiece of modern prose which grips the reader with the power of a high-class thriller.«

Frankfurter Rundschau

»Szczypiorski recounts the eternal calvary of a Poland drunk with independence, but always enslaved and always crushed, in a sparse language as classical as that of Thomas Mann. Superb and staggering!«

Le Figaro Magazine, Paris

»Magnificent. Complex, wise, unsentimental and very moving«

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

»Dense, lyrical and deeply unsettling.«

Michiko Kakutani / The New York Times

»A fine balance between poetic tenderness and an unflinching account of the brutal realities of the day.«

The Guardian, London
»An exceptional storyteller, Szczypiorski passionately recreates the tumultuous war years for us…A rare find.«
Publishers Weekly

»The authorial voice here – now gentle, now sardonic, but always piercingly omniscient – takes unique advantage of its eighties' perspective to create an unforgettable group portrait.«

Kirkus Reviews, New York
»There are accidental heroes and inadvertent villains, surprising and unexpected switches that lend the book its extraordinary originality.«
Los Angeles Times Book Review

»His novel is a masterful accomplishment, written with the kind of suspense that makes it impossible to put down. All this is achieved with what seems like effortless elegance, poetry and the muted echo of an almost Romantic irony.«

Neue Zürcher Zeitung

»A masterpiece of modern prose which grips the reader with the power of a high-class thriller.«

Frankfurter Rundschau

»Szczypiorski recounts the eternal calvary of a Poland drunk with independence, but always enslaved and always crushed, in a sparse language as classical as that of Thomas Mann. Superb and staggering!«

Le Figaro Magazine, Paris

»Magnificent. Complex, wise, unsentimental and very moving«

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

»Dense, lyrical and deeply unsettling.«

Michiko Kakutani / The New York Times

»A fine balance between poetic tenderness and an unflinching account of the brutal realities of the day.«

The Guardian, London
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