Title: Poczet Królowych Polskich (The Queens Saga)
Description: In Marcin Szczygielski's novel "The Queens Saga" the dynamics of gender intertwines with the dynamics of history. The author tells a story of generation change, of the
transformation of social practices and the sexual revolution - all these against the background of the 20th century events. "The Queens Saga" is at the same time a sensation novel, a novel of manners and a historical one, in which two first- person narrations are interlaced, providing the reader with insight into the beginning and end of the century. It is not, however, another story of Polish fate, not even a herstory - Szczygielski combines the above-mentioned motifs in a very subversive way. Every time he prioritises the private over the public, the inoficcial, emotional and intimate over the official, decent and proper.
The protagonists are three women from the Queen family - a grandmother (actress), a mother (city tour guide) and a daughter (working in the marketing and advertising business). Each of them has a very strong personality, they are all in conflict with the rest of the world, independent and detached from the family. Szczygielski constructs his whole novel out of contradictions and this is also how he creates his heroines - they are powerful women, bereaved and always lonely, facing the world on their own.
The threads of this sensational history are revealed gradually, showing the heroines fighting the adversities of ironic fate. Magda has been in love with her homosexual friend for all her life, her mather - a fervent communist - has to bear with millions of zlotys on her bank account, and finally the grandma hides her Jewish identity and starts an entangled relationship with a Nazi.
"The Queens Saga" is an ambiguous title - it refers to the women that rule their era and are in fact its quintessence. Grandmother is the screen queen, her daughter literally leads Socialist marches, and her granddaughter, with her affinity towards fashion and life in the big city, embodies the modern female lifestyle. The title can also be seen as an allusion to drag queen - the symbol of sexual minorities. In "The Queens Saga" femininity is a symbol on its own. In the world of this novel there are weak men and powerful women. This reversal of proportions makes it possible to present many areas usually not mentioned in the narratives about the past. The author constructs a story about what we don't know well and leads it away from the conventional tracks. Namely, he portrays a Jewish home in which a gentile girl is a servant, a Jewish craftsman who becomes father to two daughters - one Christian and one Jewish, and finally a relationship between a Polish actress and a German soldier. In this story the pre-war Polish officers are not heroes of the war for independence but brutal rapists who end their life in Katyn.
Alongside these threads Szczygielski introduces homosexual and gender motifs, creating "trap" figures - that is young men dressing like women in the interwar period. As a result he is the first Polish author to portray Polish LGBT community of the 1930s.
"The Queens Saga" is worth reading not only because it's skilfully plotted and its surprising intrigue shows the other side of history and rewrites a certain fragment of the national narrative. The reading is also pure pleasure. Szczygielski masters the words perfectly, uses a witty, ironic language and faultlessly portrays multi-dimensional heroines that it is just impossible to be indifferent to. *Paulina Małochleb. Książki Magazine*
Subjects: historical fiction, mystery, drama, romance
Places: Warsaw, Vilnius, Warsaw Ghetto
People: Ina Benita, Nora Ney, Stefania Grodzieńska, Michał Waszyński, Alma Kar, Jerzy Marr, Jaga Boryta, Jan Żabczyński, Antonina Żabczyńska
Time periods: 1921–2011