Dr. Josef's Little Beauty

“Rudzka’s char­ac­ters, how­ev­er repul­sive they are to read­ers and one anoth­er, are wise enough to know that you can’t let go of the past or even ful­ly under­stand it. The best you can do is relive it with as much dig­ni­ty as possible.“—Jewish Book Council“This a book that repels you, it’s as stifling as a hot, steamy summer—and it’s set in one—when you wait hopelessly for rain. But there’s no putting it back on the shelf or hiding it under a pile of newspapers. It has great force.” —Paweł Smoleński, Wyborcza“Zyta Rudzka confronts us with a truth that we don’t want to hear too often, and which is only trite on the surface—being immortal doesn’t exist. Even if digital immortality is already peeping around the corner.” —Artur Madaliński in Nowe Książki

Zyta Rudzka (born 1964) is a masterful writer, whose terse and forceful style is rapidly gaining her a place among Poland’s best contemporary novelists. Her first novel, Dr. Josef’s Little Beauty, was revised and reissued in 2021 as one of a trilogy of novels that explore old age and the final stage of life. Despite shared themes, each bookstands on its own and has other central themes as well. Rudzka’s other two novels are A Brief Exchange of Fire (2018, winner of the Gdynia Literary Award, shortlisted for the Nike Literary Award) and Soft Tissues (2020, winner of the City of Warsaw Literary Award). Her latest novel, Only Those with Teeth Can Smile,moves away from the old-age theme, but is just as hard-hitting as its predecessors, and is nominated for the 2023 NikeLiterary Award, Poland’s top literary prize. Her novels are now appearing in foreign translations. Dr. Josef’s Little Beauty is her firstto appear in English translation. Rudzka is also an award-winning playwright and poet. In 2022 she won the Poznan Literary Award for her entire oeuvre to date.

Antonia Lloyd-Joneshas translated works by many of Poland’s leading contemporary novelists and reportage authors, as well as crime fiction, poetry, and children’s books. Her translation of Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by 2018 Nobel Prize laureate Olga Tokarczuk was shortlisted for the 2019 Man Booker International prize. For ten years she was a mentor for the Emerging Translator Mentorship Programme, and is a former co-chair of the UK Translators Association.

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