Wounds

What now lies where the darkness began? A sequel to the bestseller Crows

Bára has disappeared, but her family remains. Apparently carefree and established in her role as “golden child,” Katka suddenly finds herself alone with her parents. The spotlight of her mother’s attention now casts Katka’s every move in a new, more intense light. The pressure of events makes it harder for her to be “Mummy’s perfect little girl”. Bára’s dreams and longing for a secure, peaceful home are also deeply rooted in Katka’s psyche. She seeks a way out of her secret distress in her memories, her drawings, and in fleeting encounters with Frodo, the girls’ art teacher. In her art courses, she glimpses a world in which she could be an ordinary child. Can Katka’s family change? Can the adults around her help? Does she have to rid herself of what bound her to Bára for the chance of a good life?

This sequel to Crows is not a comforting read. It cuts straight to the wounds and opens them to reveal the true nature of a reality obscured. Petra Dvořáková again examines the evil lurking within apparently safe homes. She analyses children’s helplessness while enveloping the reader in the warm, black plumage of a crow.

The book was first published in Poland, where it immediately became a bestseller.

‘Since Crows was published, I’ve come to understand how easily we fall for the illusion that a child favoured by its parents is doing well,’ says the author. ‘I wrote this sequel to shed light on the suffering of “golden children”, who are never allowed to fail, and on parents who will never change.’

"Any discussion of the success in Poland of this author’s books must mention her style: she writes in highly accessible, simple language while displaying a remarkable talent for storytelling. She tells universal stories about relationships, the search for acceptance, coming of age, and trauma."

Anna Maślanka in Dziennik Literacki, Poland (about Wounds)