Description

The novel’s action begins in Warsaw in 1937, two years before the start of World War II. Totalitarian tendencies are already beginning to surface in Poland, and there is fierce opposition between various political, social, and national groups. This novel is about love and violence against the backdrop of the premonition of war.

The main characters, including the charismatic Jakub Szapiro, a boxer and aide to a local mafia leader, fight for their place in the sun in a world inevitably heading toward disaster. This is a tense, brutal, and emotionally rich work that is one of the most famous and controversial novels of contemporary Polish literature.

Szczepan Twardoch is one of the leaders of the contemporary literary scene in Poland. Every book he has published has become an event in the writing world and, inevitably, a bestseller. He is the author of such famous, controversial, and high-profile novels as Morphine (2012), Drach (2014), The King (2016), The Kingdom (2018), The Humiliation (2020), Cold (2022). He also writes short stories, diaries, and dramatic works.

The author lives in the village of Pilchowice in Upper Silesia. He has been awarded various prestigious literary prizes, including the “Polityka Passport,” the Brücke Berlin-Preis, and the Kościelski Award. He has received a record number of nominations at literary events in Poland. An eponymous series was filmed in Poland based on the novel The King, which received excellent reviews from critics and became one of the most successful television projects.