James Martin Novels
Push Not the River
This book club favorite is based on the real diary of a Polish countess who lived through the rise and fall of the Third of May Constitution years, a time of great turmoil. Vivid, romantic, and thrillingly paced, the novel paints the emotional and memorable portrait of the metamorphosis of a nation—and of Anna. a proud and resilient young woman, and Jan, her soldier-husband. Critics have called the story Poland’s Gone with the Wind.“The story is well paced and compelling, the historical detail plentiful yet not overwhelming, and the characters engaging and true to the period.”
—The Historical Novels Review.
The author is the winner of the 2007 Gold Medal for Literature from The American Institute of Polish Culture.
St. Martin’s Press; 496 pp.pb
Maps & wycinanki illust.
Reading Group Guide
$16.95
The Warsaw Conspiracy
Portraying two brothers in love and war, The Warsaw Conspiracy completes the trilogy begun with Push Not the River and Against a Crimson Sky. You need not have read the others to enjoy this family saga set against the November Rising (1830-1831). Michał is a seasoned soldier; his impassioned brother and cadet, Józef, becomes caught up in the plot to abduct the Grand Duke of Russia. With Siberia or emigration heart-rending contingencies, matriarchs Anna and Zofia attempt to steer the clan through ever-muddying waters.
"Martin's passionate saga of Poland and its long struggle for autonomy continues in The Warsaw Conspiracy. Here he examines the dreams and heartbreak of a brave insurrection against the Russian czars and the rise of Josef Stelnicki, one of those thrilling military warriors, uniquely Polish, called hussars."
— Karleen Koen, New York Times bestselling author of Through a Glass Darkly and Before Versailles.
Hussar Quill Press
508 pp. pb.
$17.95
Against a Crimson Sky
“You don’t have to read Push Not the River to get the most from this sequel,” says Suzanne Strempek Shea. The award-winning author picks up where Push Not the River leaves off, taking the characters 20 years into the fascinating Napoléonic era, highlighting the exploits of the glorious Polish lancers. Having narrowly escaped death amidst the chaos caused by the violent dissolution of their homeland, Anna and Jan struggle to raise a family in uncertain times. When Napoléon Bonaparte comes calling, hinting at independence one day for the country, Polish legions form up—Anna’s friends and family members among them—and accompany Napoléon as he battles his way across Europe in an effort that culminates in the doomed 1812 winter march to Moscow.
“A sprawling epic . . . entertaining.”
—Publishers Weekly.
St. Martin’s Press; 369 pp.pb.
Map & wycinanki illust.
Reading Group Guide
$15.95
The Boy Who Wanted Wings
“A gripping, transporting story of self-determination set against fate.”
— Kirkus Reviews
Aleksy, a dark-complexioned Tatar raised by a Polish peasant family, holds in his heart the wish is to become a Polish hussar, a lancer who carries into battle a device attached to his back that holds dozens of eagle feathers. As a Tatar and as a peasant, this is an unlikely quest. When he meets Krystyna, the daughter of the noble who owns the land that his parents work, he falls hopelessly in love. But even though she returns his love, race and class differences make this quest as impossible as that of becoming a hussar. Under the most harrowing and unlikely circumstances, one day Aleksy must choose between his dreams.
On the eve of September 11, 1683, a massive Muslim Ottoman horde was besieging the gates of the imperial city of Vienna and had been doing so since the previous July. Now, however, they were just hours from capturing this capital of the Holy Roman Empire. The Turks’ intent was to bring Islam to all of Europe, and this city was seen by East and West alike as the gateway. With the window of time closing for Vienna, the walls were about to be breached on September 12 when the vastly outnumbered Christian coalition, led by Polish King Jan III Sobieski and his famous winged hussars, descended Kahlenberg Mountain to engage the Turks in an attempt to lift the siege. As crucial and consequential as the 1066 Battle of Hastings, the ensuing battle changed the course of European history
(Was it the first 9/11? Some people believe that the date for the September 11th attack in 2001 was chosen to symbolically resume the effort that began in 1683.)
Available in Paperback and Hardcover
Reviews for “The Boy Who Wanted Wings”
“A poor archer in medieval Poland takes aim at the love of his life in this epic novel from Martin. The anxious Aleksy Gazdecki, a young farmhand, embodies the ethnic and political tensions of Europe during the reign of the Ottoman Empire. Born to a Tatar family, he was taken in by Poles and raised a Christian ... The believability of this novel, which is sprinkled with period-specific details, is never in question. Martin sets the stage so tidily that the plight of Aleksy and Krystyna, who desire to move beyond the social classes that keep them apart, transcends the historical moment. Underneath the story of the sweethearts’ labyrinthine struggle lingers the question of what it means to fight for one’s country but against one’s relatives—a situation in which Aleksy, as a Tatar, finds himself. Sprawling but never slow, the plot moves naturally from battle to intimacy and back again.”
— Kirkus Reviews
“Amidst class and religious warfare, this alternately romantic and brutal love story is also a reminder that the struggle between Christianity and Islam is a great deal older than 2001. Culminating in the re-creation of the Siege of Vienna in 1683, where monstrous killing was perpetrated in the name of God and power, this is a meticulously researched and convincingly written tale of love’s triumph that will surprise historical fiction readers with its little known historical backdrop. The main characters struggle with loyalties to family, race, and country as they come to understand that no fear or evil is unchangeable.”
— Leonard Kniffel, Past Editor in Chief of American Libraries Director,
Polish American Librarians Association
Paperback $14.95
Hardcover $24.95
