A Long Long Time Ago And Essentially True

This summary section includes Chapter 37: “The Last Sprout on the Potato,” Chapter 38: “The Bermuda Triangle,” and Chapter 38: “The Knock in the Middle of the Day.”

The group from Half-Village moves into a communal flat with two brothers and their wives. One of the wives, named Bożena, is agreeable, but the other is not. Her name is Gosia, and she lords it over everyone else and takes an instant dislike to Marysia because she’s Jewish. After a few months, she starts scheming to replace the Half-Villagers with another couple she knew from her hometown. The communists are now watching everyone, and a word whispered in the right ear might get Czesław’s family in trouble.

As spring returns, everyone in Kraków gets more active outdoors. When Sebastian no longer visits the bar, Beata finds a way to bump into him in the public square. Over time, they have many conversations. Meanwhile, Magda frets that Sebastian isn’t coming around anymore. She’s unaware that her cousin is starting a romance with him. One day in May, Beata is reading in a milk bar when Sebastian comes in and starts to flirt with her. Later that evening, they buy hamburgers from the new McDonald’s and swap stories about their lives growing up in small villages.