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The Books of Jacob
Published 16 November 2021
ISBN 9781925923889
Format EBook
Extent 992pp

The Books of Jacob

Formats & editions
Tr. Paperback
16 Nov 2021
EBook
16 Nov 2021
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The much-anticipated English translation of Olga Tokarczuk’s magnum opus.

The Nobel Prize-winner Olga Tokarczuk’s richest and most ambitious novel yet follows the comet-like rise and fall of a messianic religious leader as he blazes his way across eighteenth-century Europe.

As new ideas—and a new unrest—begin to sweep the Continent, a young Jew of mysterious origins arrives in a village in Poland. Visited by what seem to be ecstatic experiences, Jacob Frank casts a spell that attracts a fervent following. He reinvents himself again and again, converts to Islam and then Catholicism, is pilloried as a heretic and revered as the Messiah, and wreaks havoc on the conventional order, Jewish and Christian alike, with scandalous rumours of his sect’s secret rituals and the spread of his iconoclastic beliefs.

The story of Frank—a real historical figure, a divisive yet charismatic man—is the perfect canvas for the genius and unparalleled reach of Olga Tokarczuk. Narrated through the perspectives of his contemporaries—those who revere him, those who revile him, the friend who betrays him, the lone woman who sees him for what he is—The Books of Jacob captures a world on the cusp of precipitous change, searching for certainty and longing for transcendence.

‘Olga Tokarczuk is a masterful storyteller who challenges expectations of what a story can be.’ Age
‘As for Ms. Tokarczuk, there’s no doubt: She’s a gifted, original writer, and the appearance of her novels in English is a welcome development.’ Wall Street Journal
‘Madly ambitious…[A] rich tale that is a towering black comedy to be treasured.' SA Weekend

‘Tokarczuk, unafraid and ambitious, creates a very fallible messiah, yet makes it seem reasonable and human to believe in his divinity. That is a kind of literary miracle.’ Antonia Senior, The Times
Published 16 November 2021
ISBN 9781925923889
Format EBook
Extent 992pp
Categories:

Praise for The Books of Jacob

‘The expansiveness of the story...feels like a heroic act of homage, recuperation, and mourning...What Tokarczuk seeks to achieve in these pages is to mend the holes in the fabric of history – to use words to find a proper meaning in the world and establish its underlying accordance.’

Australian

‘This is a big book. Big by weight, but also laden with ideas on every one of its many pages...Every second invested in this epic novel will be worthwhile.’

Good Reading

‘A demanding, yet breathtaking read, told from a range of perspectives.’

Happy Mag

‘In each of her books, Tokarczuk approaches a subject from the periphery, as though she too were a foreigner. The Books of Jacob [is] her masterpiece.’

Jewish Quarterly

‘The Polish Nobel laureate produces a daunting but unforgettable magnum opus with this awesome feat of historical imagination. In a crystalline translation by Jennifer Croft, Olga Tokarczuk’s epic depicts the messianic fervor of 18th-century Eastern Europe with preternaturally cool and capacious intelligence.’

Wall Street Journal

‘A massive achievement that will intrigue and baffle readers for years to come.’

Kirkus

‘The Books of Jacob takes its place alongside the great postmodern meganovels, Pynchon and Life: A User’s Manual, García Márquez and 2666...Olga Tokarczuk has learned to do the impossible: to write the novel of the collective.’

Fredric Jameson, London Review of Books

‘Tokarczuk shows impressive skill in recreating an entire era and world, which ranges from Poland to Smyrna and Vienna. Yet her real genius lies in the cast of characters she has conjured up.’

Antonia Senior, The Times

‘Impressively sprawling story… With language that’s engaging, erudite, and spiced with witty colloquialisms and wonderful turns of phrase via Jennifer Croft’s supple translation.'

Booklist

About the author

Olga Tokarczuk

Olga Tokarczuk is the winner of the 2018 Nobel Prize in Literature and the Man Booker International Prize, for her novel Flights. She has received many other honours, including her country Poland’s highest literary award, the Nike, for both Flights and The Books of Jacob. Her novels Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead and House of Day, House of Night have also been highly praised. She is the author of more than a dozen works of fiction, a children’s book and two collections of essays. Her work has been translated into more than fifty languages. Widely regarded as one of the most important writers of her generation, she lives in the countryside near Nowa Ruda, in south-western Poland.
portrait photo of Olga Tokarczuk

Also by Olga Tokarczuk

Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead
House of Day, House of Night
Primeval and Other Times
The Empusium
Flights
See all

Rights for The Books of Jacob

Rights held: ANZ