The Tale of the Serpent's Heart
core novel 2019 The Tale of the Serpent's Heart
Record
| Original title | Baśń o wężowym sercu albo wtóre słowo o Jakóbie Szeli |
|---|---|
| First published | 2019 |
| Original language |  PL |
| Work type | novel |
| Canon status | core |
| Reader rating | 4.06 (3,868 ratings, collected 2026-08-20) |
| Page count | 464 |
| First-edition ISBN | 9788367845274 |
Synopsis
This historical fantasy novel reworks the real 1846 Galician peasant uprising led by Jakub Szela into a mythic tale centered on a young peasant, rendered here as Kóby Szeli, coming of age amid the rigid social hierarchies of nineteenth-century rural Galicia. Interweaving documented history with Polish folk legend, the narrative follows Kóby through formative relationships with two very different women, the devoted Chana and the sensual, otherworldly Malwa, as he confronts class oppression, unequal opportunity, and his own conflicted desires. Folkloric figures such as mermaids, witches, sorcerers, and the legendary Serpent King move through the story alongside its historical backdrop, blurring the boundary between chronicle and fable. Combining dark humor, irony, and frank sensuality, the novel builds toward the peasant revolt itself, using Szela's real uprising as the engine for a broader meditation on good and evil within a single, ordinary man forced into extraordinary circumstances.
Where it sits
- Universe: The Tale of the Serpent's Heart
- Series: not part of a registered series (standalone work within its universe)
- Author: Radek Rak
Awards (verified)
- Nike Literary Award (Fiction), 2020: won; Poland's most prestigious general literary award, not genre-specific.
- Jerzy Zuławski Literary Award (Main Prize), 2020: won; Confirmed via the award's own official site.
Notes
- Standalone novel; no sequel. Blends folk-tale/mythic fantasy with the historical 1846 Galician peasant uprising, per this project's existing genre-boundary-transparency practice for a work that sits between fantasy and historical/magical-realist fiction (critical consensus, including the author's own description of himself as a 'twórca fantastyki', treats it as fantasy).
Sources
- Publisher listing: Baśń o wężowym sercu
- Encyclopedic overview: Radek Rak
- https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ba%C5%9B%C5%84_o_w%C4%99%C5%BCowym_sercu_albo_wt%C3%B3re_s%C5%82owo_o_Jak%C3%B3bie_Szeli
- News report: 2020 Nike Literary Award winner
- Award body's own site: 2020 Jerzy Zuławski Award winner
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