The Black Madonna
of Derby

The English edition of Goodbye Polsko is now available - click here to order

Review by Suzanne Brownlow
This is a beautifully written book chronicling the experiences of a Polish immigrant family in Derby, England, during the 1960s and 1970s over the course of a few generations. You don't need to have Polish ancestry to appreciate the story (I'm Finnish/French/American); the immigrant experience is universal. Nevertheless, the author's keen eye and sensitivity to the challenges faced by each member of the family make this book special. From the Polish grandmother's desire to leave Derby and be buried in her homeland to the teen-age daughter's desire to have a "normal" English name, this book is full of insightful observations about identity and the fundamental desire of people to fit in. I really liked the author's writing style, which mixes humor, history and human experience.

Review by Iwona Zielinska
This debut novel by journalist Joanna Czechowska is short enough to read at one sitting. The title ‘Goodbye Polsko’, presents an enormous problem to the second generation Poles who were born and brought up in England after the War as it represents a separation from their roots. The parents of that generation, born in Poland, were brought to England as a result of the war and for many reasons, political, family or personal, were not able or didn’t wish to return.

The action of the novel takes place mainly in Derby, a small English town. However the action also moves to London and to Poland. The main story takes places between the years 1964 to 1978 but the plot also takes in the years before the First World War, the time during the Russian Revolution, the brief era of Polish independence and the German occupation.

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