The Ballad of Barnabas Pierkiel: A Novel
In her first novel, Polish American author Zyzak serenades her readers with the tale of Barnabas Pierkiel, a swineherd in the small village of Odolechka, located near the border of the fictional nation of Scalvusia. As the book opens, he is preoccupied with courting his one true love, a beautiful gypsy named Roosha, who lives as the kept mistress of a local factory owner. Scalvusia seems to lie somewhere between Germany and Russia, and in 1939, this location is politically problematic. Barnabas slowly  becomes aware of this harsh fact as the novel unfolds, and his paramour’s background turns her into a target for persecution. After a well-respected member of the community dies and another villager turns traitor, Barnabas finds himself thrust into a situation which is simultaneously comic and chilling. Zyzak’s unique storytelling style evokes the timeless magic of a fairy tale, even as her colorful characters and eye for the absurd break that convention into distinctly modern pieces. --Amber Peckham