Translator | |
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Genre | |
Pages | 144 |
US ISBN | 978-1-64286-152-5 |
UK ISBN | 978-1-912987-48-1 |
Ebook ISBN | 978-1-64286-144-0 |
Region | |
US publication date | November 2024 |
Price | $18.99, £13.99 |
Stubborn Life
$18.99
Happiness and hardship in Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Poland
The end of the 1920s, the author’s first memory: a knock on the door and the arrest of her uncle, guilty of “anti-Soviet activities.” He is to be executed. Born in 1923, a dozen or so kilometers from the pre-war Polish-Soviet border, Franceska Michalska is a citizen of occupied Ukraine. Her family, finding a nest of eggs to eat, miraculously survive the great famine of 1931–32 before falling victim to growing Stalinist terror and the mass deportation of Poles from the region to Kazakhstan. All the while, Franceska dreams of studying medicine. 8,000 km and infinite difficulties later, she enters Poland and becomes a doctor, finally obtaining the Polish nationality she never had. Writing in a heartfelt yet matter-of-fact style, Michalska brilliantly evokes daily life under Russian occupation. Now more than ever, this memoir reads like a warning against history repeating, while at the same time offering a testament to human strength and to hope.
Author

18.06.2007 SIEMIATYCZE FRANCESCA MICHALSKA LEKARZ PEDIATRA FOT. BARTOSZ BOBKOWSKI / Agencja Wyborcza.pl
Franceska Michalska
Franceska Michalska was born in 1923 in Kamieniec Podolski, Ukraine. Miraculously, she survived the great famine of … Read more
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Praise for Stubborn Life
“Rarely do people write about such great tragedies as calmly as Michalska does—without complaint, without blame. The dispassionate style of the narrative strengthens the impact of the description. This is a story about the will to survive, and about the joy that comes from that survival. Awe-inspiring—I read this incredible recollection in one breath.”
Granice
“A sober hymn to tenacity and courage. This determined woman tells her story in a neutral tone, without pathos, without bitterness, without incriminating or nationalist reproaches. Despite everything, solidarity, dedication, and kindness persist.”
Les Notes
“What a story! Stubborn Life is both a glimpse into all the complexities and cruelties of the Soviet twentieth century, and a sober and powerful account of a life marked as much by the determination to move forward as by ‘the memory of all those (…) who stayed there forever.’”
Passage à l’Est