Primeval and Other Times

The Nobel Prize winner at her earthiest and most ethereal, in a fictional journey through three generations in the life of a mythical Polish village

For the denizens of Primeval, the world beyond its fields and forests is but a dream. The outcast Cornspike raises her daughter among the creatures and spirits of the forest. The squire Popielski loses his faith and becomes obsessed with a game where progress is attained only by dreaming the right kind of dream. Nonhuman beings—trees and mushrooms and archangels—have their Times too, as do inanimate objects, which may be “more important for the world than people.” Yet their stories—or Times—are buffeted by the feral history of the twentieth century, after war carries Michał the miller away from his family in 1914. Bloodshed, betrayal, and the dramas of daily life mark the birth, life, and decline of Primeval’s little world and Times, making us consider afresh the stories by which we comprehend our own.

Rich with the capaciousness and imagination that have brought Tokarczuk to sustained international fame, Primeval and Other Times is yet another treasure for fans and new converts alike.Olga Tokarczuk has won the Nobel Prize in Literature and the International Booker Prize, among many other honors. She is the author of more than a dozen works of fiction, two collections of essays, and a children’s book; her work has been translated into more than fifty languages.

Antonia Lloyd-Jones is an award-winning translator of Polish fiction, reportage, poetry, and children’s books. A longtime mentor for the UK's Emerging Translators’ Mentorship Program, she is also a former co-chair of the UK Translators Association.