Zbigniew Zborowski has already made himself known as a crime writer, but it was in the two-volume saga, centered around a five-ruble coin that passed from hand to hand, that he spread his wings.
The history of the tsarist coin’s halves, with which we travel from the time of the January Uprising to contemporary Warsaw, begins in the first volume of the saga, entitled “Let’s meet before winter comes.” Oleńka Zaporewicz, engaged to the soldier Jan Młynarski, waits for her dreams of love to come true. The war, however, destroys the lovers’ plans. Saying goodbye, Janek divides the tsarist coin obtained in the battle of Żyrzyn in half. He keeps one part in half. He entrusts Oleńka with the other one, hoping that one day she will let them find each other.From then on, two halves of the five-ruble gold coin have been wandering through successive generations of Zaporewiczs and Młynarski, carrying more and more stories, and perhaps even the curse of unfulfilled love.
The second volume of the saga, “You will find me in the shadow of guayacán”, is a continuation of the fate of the coin and people associated with it. The course of history is carrying pieces of gold to more and more corners of the world, and we are closer and closer to understanding what connects half a five-rubles with what is happening at this point in the life of Monika Wilczyńska, a resident of contemporary Warsaw.
Ebook You Will Find Me in the Shadow of Guayacán Publio.pl
Secrets hidden in the past
Following the fate of two families over the years, we are also witnessing amazing events taking place in contemporary Warsaw. Monika Wilczyńska is accused of murdering a hypnotist, whom she consulted for. Unaware of anything, it carries a secret that should not be revealed and for which the hypnotist has paid with his own life. Willing to discover the next pieces of the puzzle, Monika enters into a close relationship with Igor, a police officer. The man decides to help her, although he is risking his own career.
Monika also does not realize how enormous she has taken up the challenge until her daughter Tosia is kidnapped. Subsequent clues indicate that the whole thing is about two parts of an old gold coin … Now Monika has to decide whether to go on a long journey in search of her child. The past, shrouded in mystery, begins to return to it in dreams. Maybe they are the key to solving this puzzle? Why do tragic events in Monika’s life lead to the old tsarist five rubles? What’s the story behind the coin? Subsequent clues lead the woman to Mexico, where a cruel welcome awaits her.
These novels are like a journey through time
Both volumes of Zbigniew Zborowski’s saga, “Let’s meet before winter comes” and “You will find me in the shadow of guayacán”, are embedded in a multi-colored historical background. We get beautiful and precise descriptions of nineteenth-century Lviv or interwar Warsaw, thanks to which we have the impression that we were walking along the streets of these cities with the heroes. The author writes with a historian’s passion, showing the realities of life in the smallest detail: from the appearance of the streets, through the wardrobe of the inhabitants, to the language used. We can easily enter this world, feel the heat of Algiers on our own skin, hear the buzz of Parisian cafes, see the Asian jungles stretching to the horizon.
Events known from school textbooks take on meaning when they are mixed with sympathetic heroes. The Great War, the Nazi occupation, the Warsaw Uprising, the long history of People’s Poland – we can look at all of this again from the perspective of a person living in that world. At the same time, the author guides us through these events so smoothly that we absorb the historical facts in passing. The plot is so absorbing that it is difficult to tear yourself away from both of these books.
A new look at known events
The novel “You will find me in the shadow of guayacán” offers a very rich range of characters; many colorful characters, whose fates arouse curiosity and emotionally absorb. unscathed in many oppressions, but eventually broken by fate, as well as individuals from the margins, whose stroke of luck allows them to taste a prosperous life. This makes the whole story very credible, authentic. retrospectives seem absurd. Because who would be a supporter of Adolf Hitler now? But we owe this knowledge to the course of history. People at the time were guided by what was within their reach. Thus, their motives gain a context that is not obvious today and can bring us understanding.
Zbigniew Zborowski emphasizes in both novels the truth that human life is often guided by chance, a twist of fate. Will such cases finally connect the two halves of the old gold coin that travel the world and confuse the fate of the heroes? Will Monika Wilczyńska unravel the mystery of her past and find her daughter? See for yourself, the answers are waiting in the engaging novel “You will find me in the shadow of guayacán”.
“You will find me in the shadow of guayacán”, Zbigniew Zborowski, Czarna Owca 2022.
The cover of the book ‘You will find me in the shadow of a guayacán’ by Zbigniew Zborowski Czarna Owca Publishing House
Source: Gazeta
Tristin is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his in-depth and engaging writing on sports. He currently works as a writer at 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the sports industry.
