A Long Long Time Ago And Essentially True

Czesław and Anielica’s 22-year-old granddaughter, Beata isn’t very attractive, which invites comparisons to an ugly witch named Baba Yaga, featured in many Slavic folk tales. As the story begins, Beata is grieving the recent death of her grandmother. She has come to live with her aunt and cousin in Kraków but has no idea what to do with the rest of her life. Her boyfriend gives her a video camera that kindles her interest in becoming a filmmaker, but Beata continues to drift aimlessly. When her cousin dies of a heart condition spurred by a drug overdose, Beata blames herself and sinks into despair. The reappearance of her grandfather helps her overcome guilt and self-doubt. She eventually pursues her dream of attending film school and begins filming a documentary that captures the stories of World War II survivors. Her character arc shows exemplary growth.

Beata’s grandmother and Czesław’s wife, Anielica, is the most beautiful girl in her village. Although many suitors compete for her hand, she falls in love with Czesław and remains engaged to him during the dark years of World War II. Anielica is raped by a Nazi officer, whom Czesław kills, and she tries to repress all memory of this traumatic event. Tragedy continues to follow her when Czesław disappears shortly after their marriage and is believed dead.

As Anielica tries to rebuild her life after the war, she begins receiving care packages from the US and realizes that her husband is still alive overseas. He can’t return because he’s blacklisted, and Anielica can’t go to him without leaving behind her daughter and granddaughter. She never tells Beata any of these secrets, declaring that she lived too many stories with sad endings. However, she carefully preserves all the letters that Czesław sends her over the years. Beata finally learns about all the secrets when Czesław returns to Poland. Anielica is remarkable in her resilience but doesn’t experience great growth, reflecting Poland’s character as a persecuted country.

Beata’s 52-year-old aunt, Irena, is abrupt and sarcastic. She harasses her daughter, Magda, to make something of her life. Despite her chronic complaints, Irena has a kind heart. She takes care of a dozen stray cats that live in her courtyard and shares her flat with Beata when the girl has nowhere to go. In her younger years, Irena was an aspiring painter, but the repressive communist regime made her put aside her dreams for the sake of her daughter’s future. After her ex-husband dies, Irena talks about her disastrous marriage to Beata and starts moving forward with her life. She begins to paint again, but Magda’s death briefly sends her into a spiral of despair. Once she reconnects with Beata, she finds the courage to pursue her dreams as an artist. Like Anielica, Irena reflects on having lived through persecution and experiences significant growth only after her daughter’s death.

Irena’s attractive 20-year-old daughter, Magda, aspires to become a prosecutor and is attending law school. Unfortunately, she struggles with exam grades and is under so much pressure from Irena that she rebels. Magda eventually forms an unlikely friendship with her cousin Beata and the two socialize together frequently. Both become attracted to a man named Sebastian, but Magda doesn’t realize that he’s interested in Beata. During a party at his house, Magda uses some cocaine, which aggravates a congenital heart condition, and she dies. Magda is the only central character who aspires to a “Big Life,” though she doesn’t realize her dreams since her life is cut short. Her death motivates her mother and cousin to find the courage to pursue their dreams.

A bartender at Stash’s music club, Kinga works there with Beata and Magda and is always talking about her desire to leave Poland in search of a better life elsewhere. Unfortunately, her schemes don’t work out. After a brief stint as an au pair in Italy, she returns and is lured to take a fake job offered to her by an Englishman. As the novel ends, Kinga is cultivating a new boyfriend, thinking that her big break with him lies just over the horizon. Her character doesn’t experience significant growth.

The good-hearted, middle-aged owner of a music club in Kraków, Stash is also the club’s trumpet player. Ever since his youth, Stash has been interested in Irena, but she keeps him at a distance for much of the novel. His persistence eventually pays off, and Irena starts a romance with him. After Magda dies, Stash orchestrates a reconciliation between Irena and Beata.

An amateur clarinetist, Tadeusz sometimes plays at Stash’s club and is Beata’s first boyfriend. He dreams of one day becoming a professional musician. Sadly, this dream is derailed by his family’s financial difficulties. Tadeusz quits playing music and joins the army, hoping that his pay will help ease his parents’ money woes. Even though he gives up his dream, Tadeusz gives Beata a video camera and encourages her to pursue a career as a filmmaker. After this point, he drifts out of her life and out of the story.

A handsome man in his mid-twenties, Sebastian frequents Stash’s club, where he meets both Magda and Beata. He soon shows a preference for Beata and begins meeting her at different spots around Kraków. Although he’s vague about the work he does, Sebastian has a nice apartment and throws many parties. During one of these, Magda uses cocaine and later has a heart attack. Beata infers that Sebastian is really a drug dealer. Fearing a police investigation, he slips out of the story right after taking Magda to the hospital.

A wealthy widow in her seventies, Pani Bożena still thinks of herself as glamorous. She pays Beata to cook her meals and visit with her daily, often asking to have her makeup and hair done in the style of well-known actresses. Later in the novel, Beata learns that Pani Bożena lived in the same communal apartment with her grandparents when they first came to Kraków. During Beata’s depression over her cousin’s death, Bożena takes her in and becomes Beata’s caregiver. In addition, she gets in touch with Czesław and introduces him to his granddaughter. Thus, she plays an important role in Beata’s life.

When Anielica’s brother, Władysław, first meets Czesław, he takes an instant liking to the man who later becomes his brother-in-law. Władysław helps Czesław in carpentry projects and assists him as a member of the Polish resistance during the war. Afterward, he relocates his family to Kraków and shares a communal apartment with the Mrozeks until Czesław disappears. Irena is his daughter, and Magda is his granddaughter. The novel mentions that he died years before Beata first arrived in Kraków.