Hania

In this richly layered novel of memory, family, and longing, the narrator looks back on the old Polish manor world shaped by Mikolai Suhovolski, a fierce, comic, and utterly devoted servant who serves as butler, guardian, critic, and secret ally. Feared by children yet loved for his rough tenderness, Mikolai teaches, scolds, tells heroic war stories, despises school, and defends the household's honor with stubborn pride. Around him gather Hania, his beautiful and sorrowful granddaughter, and the family whose fortunes are bound to his loyalty, resentments, and sacrifices. As the story deepens, Mikolai's hidden devotion is revealed through acts of endurance and suffering, from tracking a delayed message to silently bearing a beating in defense of his master. His distrust of Doctor Stanislav gives way to reluctant acceptance when the doctor marries Aunt Marynia and brings happiness to the family. In the end, illness, death, and guardianship draw the narrator and Hania into a new bond, while a lyrical inset tale of Krishna, Valmiki, and a fearful maiden broadens the book's meditation on love, class, and the mystery of the human heart. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.