I plunged my hands into the sea and a tiny fish darted towards my fingers and then slipped away. As the sun faded I was overcome by a sense of ease. Everything was here.
Everything loved and everything lost, here in the water.
Sources
Though a great deal of research has gone into this book, it is a work of fiction. In writing this novel I have tried to identify those instances in which, I believe, it is appropriate and ethically sound to ‘make things up’, and those instances in which it isn’t. While I have aimed to stay faithful to the broad sweep of historical events of the period, I have taken license with certain details where these have served the aims of the story (for example, to my knowledge the film, The Blue Lagoon, was never released in Poland). However, even ‘staying faithful to the broad sweep of historical events’, is not as easy as it may sound. Historical facts are themselves contested and always privilege some voices and perspectives over others. This, coupled with the fact that the events described in this book form part of people’s living memories, inevitably means that my understanding of this period in history will differ to other people’s. I believe that we need to hear a multiplicity of stories from this period – particularly the stories of people who have been traditionally overlooked by mainstream history.
My knowledge of Polish history was shaped by a research trip I took to Poland, personal narrative accounts of the period, online sources, and books such as: God’s Playground: A History of Poland by Norman Davies, Paradise in a Concrete Cage by Leszek Dziegie, Solidarity’s Secret: The Women Who Defeated Communism in Poland by Shana Penn, The Private Poland: An Anthropologist’s Look at Everyday Life by Janine Wedel, The Polish Revolution: Solidarity by Timothy Garton Ash, Letters From Prison and Other Essays by Adam Michnik, and The Spring Will Be Ours: Poland and the Poles from Occupation to Freedom by Andrzej Paczkowski.
The following sources were indispensable for my understanding of Polish art and culture: The Wild West: A History of Wrocław’s Avant-Garde exhibition organised by the Wrocław Contemporary Museum, The Wild West: A History of Wrocław’s Avant-Garde edited by Dorota Monkiewicz. Political Upheaval and Artistic Change, edited by Claire Bishop and Marta Dziewanska, Fate and Art: Monologue by Magdalena Abakanowicz, Freedom on the Fence: A Documentary about Polish Posters and the Power of the Creative Spirit produced by Andrea Marks, Polish Realities: New Art from Poland edited by Christopher Carrel and Andrew Nairne, Lovely, Human, True, Heartfelt: The Letters of Alina Szapocznikow and Ryszard Stanislawski, 1948–1971 edited by Agata Jakubowska, Something Flashed, Something Broke, Something Remained: Consciousness Neue Bieriemiennost edited by Kasia Redzisz and Karol Sienkiewicz, The Politics of Literature: Poland 1945–1989 by Carl Tighe and the Culture.pl website.
My knowledge of Australian art, history and culture was informed by ephemeral traces: Brisbane’s Artist-Run Scene in the 1980s curated by Peter Anderson, Journeys North organised by the Queensland Art Gallery: Gallery of Modern Art, The Hillbilly Dictator: Australia’s Police State by Evan Whitton, Joyful Strains: Making Australia Home edited by Kent MacCarter and Ali Lemer, and the Remix.Org.Au website.
The ‘singing canary’ anecdote referred to by Ania and her fellow prisoners was taken from a book of stories by Marek Nowako
About the Author
Magdalena McGuire is an award-winning writer who was born in Poland, grew up in Darwin and now lives in Melbourne with her husband and son. Her short stories have been published by The Big Issue, Mslexia, Margaret River Press and The Bristol Prize. She was the winner of the 2017 Mslexia Short Fiction competition. Home Is Nearby is her debut novel.
First published 2017
by Impress Books Ltd
Innovation Centre, Rennes Drive,
University of Exeter Campus, Exeter EX4 4RN
© Magdalena McGuire
The right of the author to be identified as the originator of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyrights, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 13: 978-1-911293-14-9 (pbk)
ISBN 13: 978-1-911293-15-6 (ebk)
Typeset in Plantin by
Swales and Willis Ltd, Exeter, Devon
Printed and bound in England
by Short Run Press Ltd, Exeter, UK
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