The Issa Valley by Czeslaw Milosz
'An idyll of immense charm ... a masterpiece’ John Bayley, The New York Review of Books
'Thomas was born in the village of Gine at that time of year when a ripe apple thumps to the ground during an afternoon lull.' So a boy's life begins in a winding river valley on the Polish-Russian border where time is measured by seasonal rhythms and ancient songs. For Thomas, the ghosts in the forest are as real as the magical water-snakes that live in the Issa; in the village he is entranced by the women with their cinched waists and the men in their long boots. But when he is shown a map, he discovers a kingdom all his own and starts to dream of leaving the valley behind.
Czeslaw Milosz (1911–2004) won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1980. Born in Lithuania while it was still part of the Russian Empire, he lived much of his life in Poland or exiled in California. He was the author of one of the definitive books on totalitarianism, The Captive Mind, but also wrote with extraordinary vividness and moral authority on his childhood, his experiences under Nazism and on the tragedy of Central Europe.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780241773925 |
| ISBN 10 | 024177392X |
| Title | The Issa Valley |
| Author | Milosz Czeslaw |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Penguin Classics |
| Year published | 2026-05-14 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |