I am interested in literature on Poles in the UK – per definition – and I was glad to read an article in Cooltura about Polly’s newest book ‘Poles Apart‘. I do not want to repeat great synopsis, not try to write a review as others nicely did them on Amazon. After reading the book I want however address few issues mentioned in it:
1. It’s not easy for an immigrant to continue their career in a different country. We face cultural, economical and finally educational shift. Work ethics, HR processes and local availability of work differs from country to country. Unless you are working for an international company or have few of them in your CV, you might face difficulties.
2. It’s not easy to face the general challenges – like the fact that majority of Poles arrived to the UK to do some work and go back home – obviously they are not interested in the British culture so much, and are not too demanding in terms of salary expectations. This however affects the paths of more ambitious people later on.
3. It’s not easy for everyone to live abroad. I was always a cosmopolitan and I still struggle to keep calm when I hear my family in Poland is ill or in trouble – it’s not like you can leave everything, jump in the car and be there in few hours – yes, you can fly, but the very thought of the distance is so overwhelming that you suffer twice!
4. It’s not easy to leave all your past (school friends, town, family, culture, access to native books-cinema-products) behind and build up your social life from a scratch.
5. It’s imperative though to speak the language, study the culture and be open towards the country and its people!
So those who make the choice know very well what it comes with. I like the fact that a British writer decided to picture those dilemmas in a well written story. It’s nice to read a piece of literature so close to my heritage and my heart.
I can see that other Poles like it too:)
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[...] Presley discusses some issues raised in Polly Courtney's novel about Polish immigrants in the U.K., “Poles [...]
[...] Presley discusses some issues raised in Polly Courtney's novel about Polish immigrants in the U.K., “Poles [...]
If you are interested in Poles in the UK, I thought you might like to read my new novel, The Black Madonna of Derby. It’s essentially about the Poles who came to the UK during and after the Second World War rather than the current immigrants but I hope it will still be of interest to you. I believe it’s the only novel about second generation British Poles, of which I am one, to be published. The Polish edition, Goodbye Polsko, was a bestseller.
with best wishes
Joanna Czechowska
Thank you, I will do that!:)
I’ve just started to read this book and it seems as it’s book about me. I’m Marta too, I live in UK, I study Marketing here (not like Marta from the book) and I hope to get a job in this field. But besides this, I think that both Brits and Poles should read this book. That’s a pitty it’s not available in all libraries and if you want to read it you have to buy it (thanks to Amazon its not so hard though)
Thank you for your comment, Marta. I am sure we all find a bit of ourselves in this book;)