<div><p><b>An influential Polish classic, in English for the first time</b></p><p>In 1956 in New Delhi, Hungarian diplomat Istvan Terey falls dangerously in love with a beautiful Australian ophthalmologist. His loyalty to his wife and children in communist Hungary, to his country, and to his religion tear at him as he must choose between the old life, with its grim realities, and a new life in a free country with the woman he loves.</p><p><i>Stone Tablets</i> shines a spotlight on the somber internal struggles of a communist society. Throughout the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 the diplomatic corps waits, far from the action, afraid for their countrymen and unsure where to place their loyalty or what stance to publicly claim. Even within the corpsdomain of a bull-headed Ambassador, a slippery and conniving Secretary, a meek, hermit-like cryptographer and his precocious young son, and the office secretary, a matronly Jew who hid out the second world war as a prostitute in Siberia, along with the personable and idealistic Terey himselfpetty corruption and interpersonal machinations seethe.</p><p>Above all, the book is an exploration of the deeply conflicted feelings of a man torn between his native home, the laws of his religion, and a love more commanding than any he's known.</p><p>Kraft's translation unlocks this room in Polish literature that has been largely closed to English-speaking readers.</p><p><b>Wojciech Zukrowski</b>(19162000) was a Polish novelist, screenwriter, and essayist. He worked at the embassy in New Delhi from 1956 to 1959, hence the Indian setting of his novel. In 1996 Zukrowski won the Reymont Award for lifetime literary achievement.</p><br></div>