The Stranger A Novel

"Kuncewicz presents a subtle psychological portrait of a Polish woman who must confront the otherness of her Russian upbringing. Clearly based on the author's mother (even the name of the fictional protagonist and her real-life mother Róza are one and the same), the novel probes the tangle of emotions of an essentially egocentric woman who has built her life around dreams of an unrequited love. It has been suggested that the Polish heroine, whose existence has been distorted since childhood by the harsh forces of exile and cultural alienation, is essentially a symbol of Poland, and that her lack of inner peace, sharp memories of national defeat and humiliation, and profound lack of personal satisfaction are all reflections of the tragic history of the Polish people."--Encyclopedia.com