Chronicles of War & Love

WANDA is the first volume of Chronicles of War & Love.

Joanna Hempel, formerly one of Australia’s leading playwrights for young people, was inspired by family journals to write her trilogy Chronicles of War & Love.

Volume 1, WANDA, is a gripping portrayal of the author’s extended family on both sides of the Eastern Front during World War I. It was published in Polish by ZNAK mid-2022. A shorter version was published in Australia as Feet of Wax.

Volume 2, George (1918-1938), will be published in Poland in mid 2023.

Hempel is now writing Volume 3 of the trilogy.

 "It's hard to break away from this work that so vividly intertwines great history with human fates. This novel touches the heart. I am entranced!"

— Barbara Wysoczanska, author of the best-seller A Nazi's Fiancée.

“Great stories demand great narration. They are nothing without full-blooded heroes who love, yearn, fear and fight. Joanna Hempel does not allow her ancestors to fade in photograph albums. She shows them as they are tested, weaving their trials into an enormous tapestry of European history. If you want to understand the Eastern Front during the First World War- this is the only way! It is impossible to stop reading."

— Tomasz Kosiorek, journalist, psychologist, Polish Radio

Readers’ reviews

Featured

“An important book. I was entrapped, found myself reading a few pages a night to better savour the descriptions of the land and the people but could not stop myself from reading the last 200 plus pages in one sitting. Good literature gives flesh to historical events. Chronicles of War & Love has given me a broader and deeper understanding of WWI and the Russian Revolution. It opened up to me the lives and circumstances of people in parts of Poland/Lithuania/St Petersburg caught up in the madness of others.”

- David Brigden, Sydney Lawyer

“Thoroughly engrossed…Moving through this historic journey, the pieces of this artfully woven tapestry come together. Great work!”

- Carolyn Hartcher, teacher, Sydney

“I finished reading the whole of Chronicles of War & Love in two days, even re-read parts, I just could not put it down (this has happened only a few times in my life). I was very much looking forward to this novel, expected the usual biographical…. but the book is particularly well written - the way the novel is structured, its background research and descriptions…”

- Halina Czernuszyn Robinson, Holocaust writer, Sydney

“I have finished reading Chronicles of War & Love for the second time. A masterful work. Could hardly put the book down. I particularly liked Hempel’s use of dialogue to convey the historical and political events… Her characterisation of the women, how Wanda and Bronia grew from inexperienced and protected girls into strong young women, particularly struck me. Her male characters are also very credible. My second reading allowed me to linger... I gave it 5 stars on Amazon.”

- Penelope Collet, Art Historian, France

“Having become used to the daily company of Wanda, George and Co, I sadly have come to the end of Chronicles of War & Love. I am familiar with the flight of refugees, but Hempel brought the happy domestic events to life equally well (as Tolstoy did). I greatly enjoyed the novel. Thank you for it.”

- Mark Blows, psychologist, Sydney

“The characters peopling Hempel’s narrative are dear to her and become real for us in a different way to those in other fiction. Knowing they are based on her own family history gives added meaning to the passionate engagement (she) puts into bringing them back to life.”

- Alison Richards, writer, theatre lecturer, Melbourne

“Chronicles of War & Love fills in knowledge about parts of Eastern Europe that are neglected, lost in the rush of great events which have grabbed the attention of historians. Such a worthwhile read.”

- Wojciech Dąbrowski, Anthropologist, Warsaw University

“Bravo, bravisimo! Definitely a good read. With the imbalance of works about the Western and the Eastern Fronts, on every page I was finding out something I had never considered. As a typical U.S. political philosophy professor, I taught Marx and Lenin...knew a bit about Trotsky and Stalin, but never had any understanding of the context. Chronicles of War & Love paints the complexity of overlapping nationalisms, ethnicity, class and religion on the Eastern Front. I eagerly await Vol II.”

- Glen Dealy, Political Philosopher

“I finished Chronicles of War & Love at 2 o’clock this morning, so engrossed...It will be a revelation to Australian readers who are quite ignorant of this subject. What a treasure, cleverly written. A great book!”

- Edna Szylkarski, Brisbane

“Complex historical processes, especially the radicalisation of pre-revolutionary Russia, have been made accessible through the dialogue-based narrative, helping the reader connect emotionally with the characters. I can see the book becoming the screenplay of a successful movie.”

- Aleksandra Hądzelek, International Studies, University of Technology Sydney

“I get only snatches at night, but the last few nights I have hurried to bed to pick up the story where I left off. The dreadful panic and division of families in Poland- Lithuania-Russia: very touching, very painful. It will be on my ‘to read’ recommendation list for my next tour of the Baltics and Russia.”

- Marina Campbell, teacher of Russian, University of Sydney

“Just as War and Peace captures an entire period, Chronicles of War & Love is a story of intensely individualised people caught up in historical transition…brilliantly portrayed.”

- Ekaterina Gaevskaya, translator, Moscow