Push Not The River

About the Book

Based on the eighteenth century diary of seventeen-year-old Countess Anna Berezowska, this story is as much an account of her love for her family, country . . . and one young man, as it is a record of the proud and resilient Polish people at a tumultuous time in their history.

Losing her family, Anna sets out on a girl-to-woman odyssey that thrusts her into a world of love and hate, loyalty and deceit, patriotism and treason, life and death.

The saga is told through the viewpoints of four people:  Anna, faithful and courageous, faces mythical obstacles as she follows a journey of the heart and soul;  Zofia, her enigmatic and sensual cousin, forges an iconoclastic way of life;  Aunt Stella, Anna's stalwart guardian, personifies Poland's strength and spirit;  and Jan, compatriot of the Polish hero Tadeusz Kosciuszko, becomes the romantic interest of both Anna and Zofia.

The story unfolds against a rich historical tapestry that chronicles the rise and fall of the Third of May Constitution.  While attempting the first true democratic reform in Europe, Poland becomes the target of its neighboring monarchs, who fear she is sowing seeds of discontent, the kind of discontent that has triggered the French Revolution.  Again and again, Poland is invaded and dismembered . . . transforming it into a maelstrom from which Anna emerges an archetypal woman and heroine.

  "I am profoundly impressed. Based on fact, Push not the River is a well-written historical romance with all the elements of love, scheming, violence, irony, and tragedy to provide impact, superimposed on the appalling destruction of a nation.  The twists of the story and politics are interesting, and the finale is compelling.  It left me aching to know more of the subsequent life of Anna--and the manner in which her diary reached the present day."  

PIERS ANTHONY, best-selling author of Total Recall and the Xanth series

"Martin's novel transports the reader two hundred years into Poland's glorious past, a romantic world of castles and manor houses.  One woman's life provides a vivid metaphor for a country which --with the Third of May Constitution--was the first to attempt democratic reform in Europe.  While the attempt failed, ending in Poland's dismemberment, Push not the River sings of a people's pride and indomitable hope."  

JAN M. LORYS, Director of The Polish Museum of America, Chicago

"Within the social and political context of eighteenth-century Poland, Mr. Martin weaves the life story of a well-born woman with vivid prose and haunting imagery."  

SOPHIE HODOROWICZ KNAB, author of numerous books on Polish life and customs

About the Author

James Conroyd Martin chairs the English department for Marian High School in Illinois. He holds degrees from St. Ambrose and DePaul Universities.