Lala

‘Jacek Dehnel paints prewar Poland – “laced with gilt and stucco in the cities, and heavy with the smell of cow pats and fruit lying in the grass in the countryside” – in the vibrant hues of a fairy tale. A multigenerational epic that spans a century and most of Eastern Europe, Lala is an astounding achievement, particularly considering Dehnel wrote it between the ages of 20 and 22...magical.’

* Chicago Tribune *

‘Lala is a wonderful mosaic of stories…outrageous and humorous...spellbinding and captivating.’

* Foreword Reviews *

‘Dehnel uses his grandmother's life and reminiscences as a springboard for a sweep through Poland's turbulent 20th century, mingled with musings on the nature of storytelling...[there are] some exceptionally beautiful passages...poignantly alive with loss and love.’

* Kirkus *

‘Lush… Tender and droll, rueful and rousing, [Lala’s] stories trace one Polish family’s journey from the 1860s to the present day… [Jacek Dehnel] chronicles her decline with delicate but unabashed realism, as well as great humour, and Lloyd-Jones captures these qualities perfectly.’

* The Quarterly Conversation *

‘Lyrical passages, some endearingly eccentric characters, a flyby through twentieth-century history, and a convincing voice for Lala.’

* Booklist *

‘Eloquently translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones, Dehnel’s Lala offers an extraordinary insight into historical events... A striking evocation of Poland’s turbulent past.’

* RivetingReviews *

‘A declaration of love for literature and a tribute to an extraordinary woman.’

* Berliner Zeitung *

‘A masterfully constructed novel…mature and highly entertaining.’

* Polityka *

‘Lala is unique – no author displays such maturity of style, knowledge of form and literary erudition at the age of twenty, because nobody is ever as well-read or intellectual at that age. Dehnel – who wrote this book aged twenty to twenty-two – is the exception that proves the rule.’

* Gazeta Wyborcza *

‘Dehnel is gifted with superb literary instinct.’

* Czytelnia Onet

• Winner of Paszport Polityki Award 2006 (Poland)
• Long-listed for EBRD Literature Prize 2019