The Amber Heart

Marianna is a Polish landowner's daughter, born and brought up in the beautiful manor house of Lisko, while Danilo is a poor Ukrainian estate worker. The lives of these two young people from vastly different backgrounds are destined to become hopelessly and tragically entwined from the moment of their first meeting. The Amber Heart is a sweeping and compelling love story, set in rural Poland in the middle years of the 19th century, and loosely based on extraordinary episodes from the author's family history. This epic novel follows the fortunes of an array of characters whose lives are disrupted by the turmoil of the times, but central to the story is the lifelong relationship between Marianna and Danilo, a powerful saga of conflict, loss and enduring love. Catherine Czerkawska is an award winning writer of historical and contemporary novels, short stories and more than 100 plays for the stage, for television and for BBC Radio 4.