I grew up in Poland, in the rather grim 1950s and 60s, and books were the most reliable means of escape from the reality of the post war years. I think about this time often, now, when we are locked and limited in where we can go.

Reading was the greatest pleasure then, and the best escape. I read all the time, for as long as I could get away with. I read fairy tales, travel accounts, and all the classic books for children my local library had. This was the time of Mary Poppins, the Borrowers, Five Children and It, The Wind in the Willows, Anne of Green Gables, Tom Sawyer. Exciting, wonderful worlds I loved visiting, returning to, dropping by..

I've always read a lot, but now I read far more than before the pandemic. I read in English and in Polish, glad for any book that inspires, soothes, transports me into places where I cannot go.

And, of course, I write. For the future... for the time after...

The Chosen Maiden
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