Krzywda [Harm]

A gripping historical fiction laced with horror – it’s the 17th century as you’ve never known it… until now.

It is 1632 in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. A blind nobleman and his imposing, mute companion traverse the land that awaits the aftermath of yet another interregnum. Where do they come from? Where are they going? Nobody knows. All we know is that they are both burdened with the tales and secrets of their shared travels.

Tavern or inn, wedding or carriage, the blind nobleman tirelessly tells the story of Stanisław Wróblewski of the Krzywda family. The world that unfolds in the stories of the blind nobleman is thickly populated by demons, devils and monsters from pre-Christian times, his tales exploring different event from Wróblewski’s life; be it a local parliament that ends in bloodbath, a celebration turned tragedy, or star-crossed lovers in the Transylvanian mountains. Whatever the setting, the purpose of each and every tale is to better understand: who is Stanisław Wróblewski? As we follow the blind man’s journey, we’re unavoidably drawing near the epilogue in a tavern on the frozen Baltic Sea, where our nameless guide can finally meet his nemesis.

Krzywda (the title itself being a play on words, as Wróblewski coat of arms shares the name with the Polish word that means harm) is a multi-layered tale made of countless nested stories that follow the journey of a homeless man, tossed from one place to another: from Samogitian woods and the remote Ukrainian steppes all the way to the Carpathians.

Publication date: May 2025

Nominations and awards:

• “Polityka” Passports nominee
  

About the Author:

Paweł Rzewuski (born in 1990) is a writer, philosopher, and historian. He is an author of a non-fiction book Grzechy ‘Paryża Północy’(2019) about the dark underbelly of pre-war Warsaw and a crime novel Syn Bagien (2022) located in the Eastern Borderlands, nominated for Nagroda Wielkiego Kalibru, the most prestigious national award for the crime genre.

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Praise for Krzywda:

In Krzywda, Rzewuski managed to achieve perfect balance between witty world building and Jordan Peele-style horror with a shade of cruelty known to all Cormac McCarthy’s fans. Blood Meridian among the Wild Fields? Lovecraft in the Lithuanian woodland? Bring it on.

– Marcin Kube, Rzeczpospolita

In this novel I felt like I was wearing comfortable slippers, every now and then smiling under my mustache. That is, a very pleasant time spent, no harm, just fun!

– Kinga Dunin, Krytyka Polityczna