Matka
Published August, 2018
WINNER
2019 Minnesota Author Project
Adult Fiction category
HONORABLE MENTION
27th Annual Writer’s Digest
Self-Published Book Awards
Mainstream/Literary Fiction category
Zosia has sacrificed herself to save her dying son from the Gestapo. She takes his place as a prisoner and is sent to work as a slave in Germany, where the only thing keeping her alive is the hope of her children’s survival.
Once World War II ends, her goal, like any matka, is to return to Poland and the children she left behind. Instead, she’s collected into a DP camp in Wildflecken, Germany, to wait for stability in Poland. She digs for clues about her family but finds the truth impossible to uncover. Zosia is trapped in a never-ending purgatory.
Despite her initial resistance, she falls in love with Czeslaw, who uses his black market network to help her. When Zosia becomes pregnant, Czeslaw offers the promise of a new life but refuses to return to Poland and the tragedy he left behind.
The refugee camps are closing and time is running out. Zosia is faced with a decision: return to the ruins of Poland alone to find her older children, or follow Czeslaw in his chase after a better future for their fragile new family.
"All the more impressive when considering that "Matka" is author Sarah Hanley's debut as a novelist, this deftly crafted and compelling novel is one of those novels that will linger in the mind and memory long after the book itself has been finished and set back upon the shelf."–Midwest Book Review
“Sarah Hanley has captured the spirit of what happened after World War II in this bigger-than-life story...The expression “ravages of war” is so true, and Hanley shows this through her well-drawn characters and scenes that will leave you feeling emotions you never knew you had.”
–Judge, 27th Annual Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards