There is a word that – when aligned with Ewa’s name – evokes great emotion, even though it does not appear in the most desirable context, and has a symbolic dimension. That word is RETURN. And yet we are talking about Ewa’s return – on the wings of her second book – to places where the trails were blazed by her first (yet chronologically later) publication. Hardly surprising, after all:
All roads store journeys, all ports departures and returns, all paths hidden desires.
Back in 2024, just before Christmas, “The Arthurian Legend from the Victorian Perspective…” appeared in the bookshop that first agreed to take both of Ewa’s works under its roof. We are talking about the SLIGHTLY FOXED antiquarian bookshop in Berwick-upon-Tweed, an idyllic town on the border between England and Scotland. A creature that guards this unusual place is a large wooden fox-bibliophile, who – lurking around the corner – from the beginning seemed to speak of Ewa in the paraphrased voice of TV’s famed Fleabag: “She went thay way”, pointing with his paw to the sky visible through the window crowning the colourful dome in the central part of the bookshop. Recently, a storm destroyed the window, but with the determination of the owners and the strength of people of goodwill, the damage was repaired. In February 2024, when I first wrote to Claire and Lisa, who were unknown to me at the time, asking if they would accept copies of “Literary Appropriations of Myth and Legend…” under their roof and help me reach potential readers, I was convinced of the uniqueness of this place and the people who make it what it is. I knew the answer would come, feeling as if it was Ewa herself who had chosen this nest for her winged words. And yet one of the last messages I received from Ewa included a link to an article about foxes. It was she who had recommended Fleabag to me, in which the fox is a symbol of love.
Through Claire and Lisa, this Book of Life, closed so suddenly and so painfully, has reopened, becoming more than a Guest Book. We continue to write it for Ewa and with her help, and Slightly Foxed has lived to see one of the most touching and joyful chapters in this Book. I have visited the place twice. I saw Ewa’s book prominently displayed in the poetry corner, I saw the light coming from the window crowning the dome and falling on its cover like a spotlight illuminating an actor on stage. The photo I took on my second visit – on my way to Library in the Woods on the Isle of Arran (more on that shortly) – now adorns the official bookshop postcards. I also had the opportunity to hug Claire and Lisa. I can only imagine how happy Ewa would have been, busking in this truly fabulous antiquarian bookshop, and weaving a web of relationship from the thousands of topics shared with the two ladies. I left my heart there, and then… found it – literally, because I spotted the little gold heart-shaped pendant on a platform in Berwick. So the return of Ewa’s second book to Slightly Foxed was in its own way a homecoming – if we acknowledge that home is where our heart is. And a heart shown to someone – like the ones shown to Ewa, to her memory and to me – becomes home.
Another place to which Ewa returned on the wings of her second book was Cornwall. In this case, however, by place I mean Person, because – although Old Hall Bookshop in Looe has changed its name and location – its spiritual foundation has remained the same (as in Máire Brennan’s song: “Change the words, don’t change the meaning”), and that is Katrina. It is she – along with her partner Neil – who has breathed new life into Old Hall Bookshop in Looe in 2019. It was for this purpose that they both moved from Exeter to Cornwall and stayed there because of the books, nature and lovely people. In 2024 Katrina and Neil once again saved the bookshop, which for reasons beyond their control could not remain in its original location. Thanks to their dedication and determination, it was moved from the east to the west side of the river and reopened in February 2025 – this time as WEST LOOE BOOKSHOP – in the building known as Press On Linen Services in Princes Street. Ewa’s second book arrived there shortly afterwards, joining its predecessor, which proudly flexes its spine in the company of a Polish-English edition of poems by Halina Poświatowska, in which two themes were always intertwined: love and death.
who can fit philosophy
between love and death
I gather living words
from foxing pages
and listen:
no-one can fit
between love and death
and only sometimes
standing before the sun
behind squinting eyes
a glint, a moment
breaks into rainbow
with the sun
my eyes go blind
the plot unravels
love and death
prologue and afterword
In the picture showing copies of “The Arthurian Legend…” immortalised in the West Looe Bookshop, you can see the card I enclosed with the caption: “How long does love last?”, asked the fox. “Longer than a lifetime,” replied the moon. “And for some, it never fades”. It was in the parcel for a reason. For Neil, Katrina’s beloved partner, had passed away in the spring. She wrote of him: “He loved books, music and me. He was a gentle soul. And I miss him terribly.”
Just as Katrina found a place for Ewa in her bookshop and in her life, letting the memory of her flourish there, I would like to mention Neil here, believing that he has met a wonderful interlocutor on the other side of life. And one day we too will join them.
The third point on the Map of Returns goes beyond the British Isles and takes the musical path to the land of ABBA. “Mamma mia! Here I go again” – one would like to hum and direct one’s gaze to the unique bookshop Läs is More in Gothenburg, run by the American-Irish volcano of positive energy – Stephanie. The first part of our story (or rather HERstory, as the main character here is Ewa!) had a happy ending – “Literary Appropriations…” was quite quickly spotted on the shelf by local bibliophile, Ms Hannele, who dedicated a blog post to the book. A little birdie tells us that “The Arthurian Legend…” has also caught someone’s eye, or perhaps – their heart. Stephanie’s lovely post featured a robin from the latest edition of bookmarks promoting Ewa’s books. The dwarves from the postars are the little inhabitants of Wrocław, from where all three parcels flew: to Gothenburg, to Berwick-upon-Tweed, and to Looe.
Thank you, Claire, Lisa, Katrine, and Stephanie, for allowing Ewa’s books to spread their wings in your personal Elysia, so the robin from Emily Dickinson’s poem could find more than its way to the nest:
If I can stop one heart from breaking,
I shall not live in vain;
If I can ease one life the aching,
Or cool one pain,
Or help one fainting robin
Unto his nest again,
I shall not live in vain.
He sings to each and every one of us to this day, after all “robins appear, when loved ones are near”. And as far as I know Ewa – also the “loving one[s]”.
PS
There have been more good souls and beautiful places in this story that is still being written. I will tell you about all of them.
Translated by Jakub Niedziela