The Lullaby of Polish Girls

March 18, 2013
This gossipy, feisty debut by actress Dominczyk (The Good Wife; 24) follows a trio of friends across decades and the Iron Curtain, from Communist Poland to adulthood in the U.S. Thinking back on her adolescence, Anna Baran remembers how her immigrant parents sent her back to Poland to their hometown of Kielce every summer, where she, Justyna, and Kamila flirted with boys, ran around unsupervised, and heard each other’s dearest confessions. Adulthood has proved disappointing for all of them: after a breakout performance, Anna’s acting career has stalled, with her agent appealing to her to lose weight, while Kamila has left an unhappy marriage to live with her parents in Detroit and work as a nanny. When Anna, preparing to spend Thanksgiving in Brooklyn without her boyfriend, Ben, hears that Justyna has been left alone in Kielce with her young child after husband Pawel’s murder, she decides she has no choice but to return. Alternating chapters sharing the characters’ teenage exploits are fresh and revelatory, while their intense bond, complicated by petty slights and the discoveries of late-night conversations, enlivens the somewhat prosaic arcs of their present-day plight. Agent: Laura Nolan, Paradigm Talent Agency.

March 1, 2013

This compelling first novel by Polish American actress Dominczyk describes an immigrant family saga that is not unlike her own. The three main characters are girlfriends from their youth in Kielce, Poland, and the story is alternately told in all of their very different voices. Although each young woman has her own problems with life and love, they all struggle with the same issues of female and national identity. The narrative moves around seamlessly in both time and place, from Europe to Greenpoint, a Polish neighborhood in New York City's Brooklyn, and to the Midwest. The cast of characters is equally broad in scope, yet each one is richly imagined and, it would appear, pulled from real life. VERDICT It is easy to believe that the film rights to this cinematic story have already been sold. While its descriptions of emotions and dramatic events sometimes venture into soap opera territory, this debut is not to be missed. Recommended for fans of Gary Shteyngart (The Russian Debutante's Handbook) and other modern novels of the expatriate experience in America. [See Prepub Alert 12/7/12.]--Kate Gray, Worcester, MA

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