‘The Black Madonna Of Derby’ by Joanna Czechowska is a very well written tale and well-narrated, about three generations of Polish immigrants who struggle fitting into their new country and all the things it brings with it. The book is set in the 1960s and ’70s and I was totally involved with learning about the family and the Polish ways which are still Kept.
We have Babcia ( Polish for grandmother), the matriarch of the family who lives with her daughter, son-in-law and the three children in Derby. She has a tendency to live in the past, through her memories the children learn of life long before they were born. Babcia is far from a stupid woman, she is fluent in plenty of languages, but only knows a few words of English. The world she lives in now just makes her frustrated so she loves to be the centre of attention whenever she gets the chance. Her two granddaughters are as different as chalk and cheese.
We have Wanda, the eldest, who feels constricted by her Polish family’s way of life and wishes she was just like everyone else. She feels English wants to just live normally. This results in her making her way to London after she has left school and striving to live her own way and have the job she wants.
Zosia is the next in age and she is Babcia’s favourite. She is totally fascinated by her heritage and encourages Babcia’s stories and revells in them. This intelligent and beautiful young girl has really only experienced positivity from all her elders, so when she is the victim of bullies she struggles.
These three females are the dominant characters and we join them in their ordinary lives, seeing Babcia decide to go back to Poland, to die as she says. Meet the other characters that play parts in the lives of Babcia, Wanda and Zosia. Eccentric and not least a little crazy Princess Maria is one colourful character we meet.
This seems ‘just’ a story about an immigrant family, but it is more than that. It’s a lesson in the life of how we treat each other and maybe respect other people who we think are different, in one way or another. I adored listening to Babcia, the best and funniest part for me is when Babcia said the Tsar’s brother was interested in her. The girls try to imagine if she had married him and where would they be. Babcia retorts “Dead! I would have been dead!”. The historical parts of Babcia’s story had me back in time, I really loved it. A very rich, endearing story which kept me listening to the end. Thank you to Rachels Random Resources for the copy of this Audible book.
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