Nobleman Zavalnia or Belarus in Fantastical Tales
$10.99 – $56.00
Coming October 2025! Available for pre-order. All orders are expected to ship in October 2025.
Description
Description
First published in Polish in 1846, Nobleman Zavalnia, or Belarus in Fantastical Tales is one of the earliest works of Belarusian literature. At Zavalnia’s hearth, peasants, nobles, and wanderers spin stories of witches, restless souls, enchanted forests, and haunted battlefields. Their tales reflect a society still bound by serfdom, set against the strange year of 1817, known as the “year without a winter.”
Written after the Russian Empire’s annexation of much of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, where Belarusian lands lay, Barszczewski’s collection blends folklore, folk horror, and political allegory. Behind its supernatural figures and uncanny landscapes lie the encrypted memories of a people struggling to preserve their identity. With its mix of oral tradition, Gothic imagination, and historical witness, the book has been called “European voodoo,” a distinctively Belarusian contribution to world literature.
This edition presents the first full English translation of Barszczewski’s tales, together with his later works The Wooden Old Man and the Insect Woman (1846) and The Soul Not in Its Own Body (1849). Translated by Olya Ianovskaia and illustrated by Nasta Lee, it makes a 200-year-old classic available to English readers for the first time.
Additional information
| Weight | .8 kg |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 26 × 18 × 3 cm |
| Title | Nobleman Zavalnia or Belarus in Fantastical Tales |
| Author | Jan Barszczewski |
| Translator | Olya Ianovskaia |
| Illustrator | Nasta Lee |
| Format | Trade Paperback, Illustrated Hardcover, E-book (epub) |
| Pages | 340 |
