Marta. Eliza Orzeszkowa

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      Series Editor’s Preface

      Marta by Eliza Orzeszkowa, reputedly one of the most prominent Polish writers, is an engaging period piece in the social realist genre that details the trials and tribulations of its female protagonist, whose life is upended by the sudden death of her husband. The novel follows the unfortunate woman through her heroic efforts to support herself and her child in a harsh patriarchal society during a period of industrialization and urbanization in nineteenth-century Poland. The novel reveals just how constrained life chances were for a single woman in that world.

      Written with considerable narrative verve, the story proceeds briskly, through a series of arresting plot twists, to a final denouement that may surprise and certainly will shake empathetic readers. The feminist sensibilities of the author shine brightly throughout this absorbing book. The story and its star-crossed yet resolute heroine should intrigue general readers interested in period fiction but also provide excellent opportunities for classroom discussion of historical and contemporary—and universal—issues involving gender and class.

      This original translation by Anna Gąsienica Byrcyn and Stephanie Kraft is illuminated by an incisive introduction to the work and period by Grażyna Kozaczka, Professor of English at Cazenovia College in Cazenovia, New York. Professor Kozaczka usefully sets the book in historical and literary context and provides a list of questions that can inform discussion as they aid critical consideration of the novel.

      Publication of the Ohio University Press Polish and Polish-American Studies Series marks a milestone in the maturation of the Polish Studies field and stands as a fitting tribute to the scholars and organizations whose efforts have brought it to fruition. Supported by a series advisory board of accomplished Polonists and Polish-Americanists, the Polish and Polish American Studies Series has been made possible through generous financial assistance from the Polish American Historical Association and that organization’s Stanley Kulczycki Publication Fund, the Stanislaus A. Blejwas Endowed Chair in Polish and Polish American Studies at Central Connecticut State University, and the Frank and Mary Padzieski Endowed Professorship in Polish/Polish American/Eastern European Studies at the University of Michigan, Dearborn, and through institutional support from Wayne State University and Ohio University Press. The series meanwhile has benefited from the warm encouragement of a number of other persons, including Gillian Berchowitz, M. B. B. Biskupski, the late Stanislaus A. Blejwas, Thomas Duszak, Mary Erdmans, Martin Hershock, Rick Huard, Anna Jaroszyńska-Kirchmann, Grażyna Kozaczka, Brian McCook, Anna Muller, Thomas Napierkowski, James S. Pula, and Thaddeus Radzilowski, and from the able assistance of the staff of Ohio University Press. The series also has received generous assistance from a growing list of series supporters, including benefactor Thomas Duszak, contributor George Bobinski, and additional friends of the series including Alfred Bialobrzeski, William Galush, John A. and Pauline A. Garstka, Jonathan Huener, Grażyna Kozaczka, Neal Pease, Maria Swiecicka-Ziemianek, and Mary Jane Urbanowicz. The moral and material support from all of these institutions and individuals is gratefully acknowledged.

       John J. Bukowczyk