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- Year
- 2019
- Pages
- 80
- ISBN
- 978-83-7672-655-7
The best way to tell a young reader about war is from the perspective of a child, which Katarzyna Ryrych does brilliantly in The Little War.
In September 1939, everyone thought the war would only last a few weeks, and certainly wouldn’t reach a small house on the outskirts of Lviv. But the lives of Lilka and her sister have changed irrevocably. Their father has gone missing, their favourite neighbours and friends are leaving town, schooling has to take place at home, and their music teacher has started acting strangely. What secrets are Maestro and the girls’ loved ones hiding? Who are they trying to help?
We have all heard tales of the heroes who died in an unfair fight, far away, where a great war was raging. But those who waged their little war, helping the weakest members of society – the children, the elderly, the sick – have been forgotten. Instead of fighting with guns, they used their hearts – like the mysterious Maestro, the only photo of whom is preserved in the family album – but they died like soldiers. Katarzyna Ryrych aims to remind us of these people and to show that heroism has many faces.
Translated by Kate Webster
