A Long Long Time Ago And Essentially True

One of the consequences of Poland’s occupation by both the Nazis and the communists is the lack of self-determination. Ideologically, both governments wished to impose authoritarian values on the nation and its people. While the resistance movement during the war years tried to maintain a sense of nationalism, these efforts were covert and sporadic. The apparatus of government was more effective at instilling its own propaganda into the minds of the people. Anielica grows upset when the communists order the removal of all the crucifixes from the school where she teaches. As a devout Catholic, she sees such actions as sacrilegious and quits her job.

The tension between deep-rooted cultural values and foreign ideology amounts to a national identity crisis once Poland is finally freed. People no longer know who they are. Dictators have regulated every aspect of their lives for so long that they simply go along from day to day without any sense of agency. Beata exemplifies this behavior. She lacks dreams or ambitions for herself. While she bemoans her dreary daily routine, she doesn’t actively seek to change it. When Tadeusz gives her a video camera and encourages her to film something, she shies away from the idea.

Irena falls into the same trap. She has become so disillusioned by the external forces that dictated her choices for the preceding two decades that she’s now convinced that life has passed her by. When the story begins, Magda has high hopes of graduating from law school, but the system seems rigged to her disadvantage. Since she isn’t a tuition-paying student, the school wants to free up her place for students who bring more cash into the institution. Irena pressures her to study harder, but both mother and daughter seem to suspect that success is impossible.

Like Magda, Kinga hopes for a better life, but she too believes that external forces are blocking her from pursuing that life. She blames the people in charge of the au pair agency in Italy for her dismal experience there. Likewise, the Englishman she meets seems intent on exploiting her sexually rather than giving her a legitimate job overseas. The novel is set in 1992, shortly after Poland held its first democratic election since the war. Consequently, the nation and the novel’s characters all seem uncertain about how to chart their futures. Free agency isn’t learned overnight. Fortunately, Beata and her country show signs of taking control of their futures by the end of the novel.