Book Review For "Push Not the River"
By: James Conroyd Martin ISBN: 0-31231153-2 St.
Martin's Press $14.
95 5 Stars "Push Not the River" is a gripping tale of love and loss, not just on a personal scale, but on a national scale, as the Polish nation is finally taken over by the Russians in 1794.
"Push Not the River," is a story based on the Countess Anna Maria Berezowska's diary which she kept from 1791-1794.
Her story is fascinating, compelling, and will have the reader anxiously turning the page to find out what happens next.
The story begins with seventeen-year-old Anna reeling from the loss of her immediate family.
Her father is killed in a fight with a peasant, and her mother, grief stricken, gives premature birth.
Anna's infant brother and her mother also pass away.
Anna goes to stay with her aunt and uncle, the Gronska's.
They live in Halicuz, a town in southern Poland.
They have a son, Walter, who is in the Russian army, and a daughter, Zofia, a couple of years older than Anna.
Zofia takes a liking to Anna, and befriends her.
While exploring the countryside, Anna meets a young man, Count Jan Stelnicki, who is only a few years older than her.
Anna finds herself losing her heart to him.
When she finally comes out of mourning for her parents, she spends a wonderful day riding with Jan and he asks her to marry him.
The moment is ruined as Zofia arrives - jealous that Anna has captured Jan's heart when she wanted it for herself.
A fight ensues and Jan leaves.
Anna has sprained her ankle and Zofia goes for help.
While Anna waits, she's raped, and doesn't recognize her attacker.
Finally, her uncle and Walter arrive to take her back to the house.
Anna is pregnant as a result of the rape and is forced into a marriage she doesn't want to Count Antoni Grawinski.
The marriage is unbearable for both of them.
Antoni and Jan duel over Anna, but it's not Jan who kills him, but a mysterious sniper.
Just as Anna and Jan are about to give into their feelings, Poland is threatened by yet another partion, and Jan goes off to war before Anna can tell him she loves him.
Anna stays with Zofia in Praga, near Warsaw, but Zofia, now Countess Gronska, is an enigma to her cousin, and Anna can't help but wonder if Zofia is continuing to keep her from Jan.
As the Russians burn Praga, both Anna and Zofia face the ultimate challenge.
"Push Not the River," is wonderfully paced in a grand, sweeping style that will keep the reader enthralled in Anna's story.
The plot is tight, expertly weaving between the destruction of a nation and the love story of Anna and Jan.
Anna's story is so very human, it's one that leaves the reader thinking about her even after they put the novel down.
Martin's Press $14.
95 5 Stars "Push Not the River" is a gripping tale of love and loss, not just on a personal scale, but on a national scale, as the Polish nation is finally taken over by the Russians in 1794.
"Push Not the River," is a story based on the Countess Anna Maria Berezowska's diary which she kept from 1791-1794.
Her story is fascinating, compelling, and will have the reader anxiously turning the page to find out what happens next.
The story begins with seventeen-year-old Anna reeling from the loss of her immediate family.
Her father is killed in a fight with a peasant, and her mother, grief stricken, gives premature birth.
Anna's infant brother and her mother also pass away.
Anna goes to stay with her aunt and uncle, the Gronska's.
They live in Halicuz, a town in southern Poland.
They have a son, Walter, who is in the Russian army, and a daughter, Zofia, a couple of years older than Anna.
Zofia takes a liking to Anna, and befriends her.
While exploring the countryside, Anna meets a young man, Count Jan Stelnicki, who is only a few years older than her.
Anna finds herself losing her heart to him.
When she finally comes out of mourning for her parents, she spends a wonderful day riding with Jan and he asks her to marry him.
The moment is ruined as Zofia arrives - jealous that Anna has captured Jan's heart when she wanted it for herself.
A fight ensues and Jan leaves.
Anna has sprained her ankle and Zofia goes for help.
While Anna waits, she's raped, and doesn't recognize her attacker.
Finally, her uncle and Walter arrive to take her back to the house.
Anna is pregnant as a result of the rape and is forced into a marriage she doesn't want to Count Antoni Grawinski.
The marriage is unbearable for both of them.
Antoni and Jan duel over Anna, but it's not Jan who kills him, but a mysterious sniper.
Just as Anna and Jan are about to give into their feelings, Poland is threatened by yet another partion, and Jan goes off to war before Anna can tell him she loves him.
Anna stays with Zofia in Praga, near Warsaw, but Zofia, now Countess Gronska, is an enigma to her cousin, and Anna can't help but wonder if Zofia is continuing to keep her from Jan.
As the Russians burn Praga, both Anna and Zofia face the ultimate challenge.
"Push Not the River," is wonderfully paced in a grand, sweeping style that will keep the reader enthralled in Anna's story.
The plot is tight, expertly weaving between the destruction of a nation and the love story of Anna and Jan.
Anna's story is so very human, it's one that leaves the reader thinking about her even after they put the novel down.