How to capture groundbreaking events for the Polish nation? How to capture the essence of patriotism, revealing emotional tones - and all shades of gray? Can an artistic canvas contain a multi-threaded history of the turn of the century? The answers were written on the card of the novel "The Kossaks. Tango ”by Joanna Jurgała-Jureczka.
Kossak is a surname that has permanently entered the annals of art and Polish history. The hero of Joanna Jurgała-Jureczka's novel is Wojciech, born in Paris in 1856, died in Krakow in 1942, a representative of the historical and battlefield painting trend. The depiction of one of the artist's loudest and longest romances with a certain Zofia née Lewental is the starting point for a colorful, passionate, ambiguous, metaphorical story.
In this book, there is a sketch of problems in the field of art history, universal history, but also emotional history, which is related to the personal experiences of the characters. The author admits in the introduction:“ The Kossaks opened their doors to me over twenty-five years ago, they let me into their home. I am a biographer of probably the most monumental representative of this family - Zofia Kossak ". The Polish novelist, co-founder of two secret organizations in occupied Poland:the Polish Revival Front and the Council to Aid Jews Żegota, appears as an extraordinary figure.
But the context is also unusual - the cultural and social landscape against which the novel takes place. In this fictional scenery, you can find a colorful gallery of characters - they are passionate about the national history of the Kossaks, there is the Lewentals family - assimilated Jews, and finally the Polonized Germans - the Hoesick family.
Joanna Jurgała-Jureczka tells an engaging, emotionally engaging story in which the historical features of the heroes are important - because the plot is also based on research studies of scientific value . "I found a wealth of materials in the letters of Ferdynand and Zofia Hoesick (from the time of their engagement), as well as in the correspondence of Hortensia and Salomon Lewentals" - admits the author.
The essence of patriotism, the secrets of art, and finally, psychologically motivated heroes who - most importantly - are transferred from the real world to the literary plot. "The Kossaks. Tango ”is a valuable, entertaining novel, and at the same time not devoid of scientific accents in a light, accessible edition. Great title.