22 Britannia Road by
A tour de force that echoes modern classics like Suite Francaise and The Postmistress. "Housekeeper or housewife?" the soldier asks Silvana as she and eight- year-old Aurek board the ship that will take them from Poland to England at the end of World War II. There her husband, Janusz, is already waiting for them at the little house at 22 Britannia Road. But the war has changed them all so utterly that they'll barely recognize one another when they are reunited. "Survivor," she answers. Silvana and Aurek spent the war hiding in the forests of Poland. Wild, almost feral Aurek doesn't know how to tie his own shoes or sleep in a bed. Janusz is an Englishman now-determined to forget Poland, forget his own ghosts from the way, and begin a new life as a proper English family. But for Silvana, who cannot escape the painful memory of a shattering wartime act, forgetting is not a possibility. One of the most searing debuts to come along in years, 22 Britannia Road. is the wrenching chronicle of how these damaged people try to become, once again, a true family. An unforgettable novel that cries out for discussion, it is a powerful story of primal maternal love, overcoming hardship, and, ultimately, acceptance-one that will pierce your heart.
Amanda Hodgkinson
World War II has just ended and Silvana Novak and her eight-year-old son Aurek arrive in Ipswich, England, where they are reunited with Silvana's husband, Janusz, after six years of estrangement. Silvana and Aurek have spent that time hiding from both the Germans and the Russians in the forests of Poland. Janusz, meanwhile, escaped to France before settling in England.
Relieved and deeply grateful to have his family back, Janusz has set up a brand-new life for them in a small house in a town in East Anglia. He's found work in an engineering firm and he's hoping they can start, despite what they have lived through. Aurek, who's grown up eating raw bird's eggs and tree bark, will have to learn how to tie his shoes and interact with children his age. Silvana will have to readjust to living in a real house, with a real bed and bathtub. Fiercely protective of her son, she will have to learn how to trust other people again, including her husband. Slowly but surely, they embark on this process together: Silvana finds work at an area factory; Janusz teaches them English; Aurek begins school and makes a new friend. They start to socialize with their neighbors who seem to accept them as one of their own. And Janusz builds a beautiful English garden with a treehouse for Aurek.
Yet even as their shared dream of postwar life takes shape, the past continues to haunt them. Both Silvana and Janusz are harboring painful secrets about what really happened during their separate wars. And these secrets are threatening to tear their fragile new bond apart.
In Amanda Hodgkinson's commanding debut novel, these empathetically drawn, emotionally damaged characters must learn how to recreate a family under the most difficult circumstances, when the horrors of war have stripped them of everything but their most primal instincts. By turns poetic and grippingly suspenseful, 22 Brittannia Road is a heart-wrenching story of how love and forgiveness can pave the way to new life.
Amanda Hodgkinson was born in Burnham-on-Sea, England, and earned an MA in creative writing from the University of East Anglia. She now lives with her husband and two daughters in a farmhouse in the southwest of France.
/* Starred Review */ A Polish family shattered by World War II struggles to reunite in peace-time, in a strikingly mature British debut.What comes after surviving? asks Hodgkinson in her ambitious, emotionally incisive first novel threaded with primitive human instincts for safety and companionship. Her central characters Silvana and Janusz Nowak meet and fall in love in 1937, marrying and moving to Warsaw when Silvana falls pregnant. As war approaches, Janusz joins up, expecting Silvana and their son Aurek to move in with his parents, but these plans are disrupted and Silvana ends up foraging in the forest alongside other survivors while Janusz embarks on a trek through Hungary and France to England. Reunited as British immigrants in a Suffolk town in 1946, the adults are scarred by their long separation, the events they witnessed and their secrets. Janusz had a French lover, Hélène, while Silvana's savage and deprived existence has left Aurek half feral. In their new suburban existence the three try to restore normal relationships but simple yearning isn't enough and eventually the secrets drive them apart, Silvana into the open arms of Tony, the father of Aurek's school friend. Janusz now enters a period of destructive grief and Silvana has lessons to learn about Tony; it takes a gesture from Aurek to bring about a conclusion of surprising grace.Hodgkinson enters boldly into well-trodden, sensitive territory and distinguishes herself with freshness and empathy.(Kirkus Reviews, March 1, 2011)