»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.«

»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.«

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

»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!«

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

»Dense, lyrical and deeply unsettling.«

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

»His narrative style is calm and leisurely, yet pacey; his writing is composed, but always with wit and vigour.«