{"product_id":"9780547428475","title":"A Long, Long Time Ago \u0026 Essentially True","description":"\u003cb\u003ePEN\/Hemingway Award Winner: A “gorgeous” novel weaving together stories of Poland past and present in one whimsically romantic epic (\u003ci\u003eChicago Tribune\u003c\/i\u003e).\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e On the eve of World War II, in a small Polish village, a young man nicknamed the Pigeon falls in love with a girl fabled for her angelic looks. To build a place in Anielica’s heart, he transforms her family’s modest hut into a beautiful home. But war arrives, cutting short their courtship and sending the young lovers off to the promise of a fresh start in Krakow.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Nearly fifty years later, the couple’s granddaughter, Beata, repeats this journey, seeking a new life in the fairy-tale city of her grandmother’s stories. But instead of the rumored prosperity of the New Poland, she discovers a city full of frustrated youths, caught between its future and its past. Taken in by her tough-talking cousin, Irena, and her glamorous daughter, Magda, Beata struggles to find her own place in the world. But unexpected events—tragedies and miracles both—change lives and open eyes.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “[A] whimsical debut,” \u003ci\u003eA Long, Long Time Ago and Essentially True\u003c\/i\u003e weaves together two remarkable stories, reimagining half a century of Polish history through the legacy of one unforgettable love affair (\u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e).  This magical, heartbreaking novel “rings hauntingly, enchantingly, real” (\u003ci\u003eNational Geographic Traveler\u003c\/i\u003e).\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “With a touch of Marina Lewycka and a dash of \u003ci\u003eCaptain Corelli’s Mandolin\u003c\/i\u003e, this is storytelling that gets under your skin and forces you to press copies into your best friends’ hands.” —\u003ci\u003eElle \u003c\/i\u003e(UK)\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “Funny and romantic like all the best true stories.” —Charlotte Mendelson, author of \u003ci\u003eWhen We Were Bad\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"Houghton Mifflin Harcourt","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47181687554288,"sku":"9780547428475","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9780547428475_p0.jpg?v=1769896324","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780547428475","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}