Before the Spring

The Polish novel Przedwiośnie (a title translated alternatively as First Spring, Before the Spring, Early Spring, Springtime, or Spring To Come) was written by the leading Polish neoromantic writer Stefan Żeromski, and first published in 1925, the year he died. The book has been translated and published in the U.S. as the Coming Spring in 2007. The novel consists of three parts: Szklane Domy (Glass houses), Nawłoć (Nawłoć estate), and Wiatr od wschodu (the Eastern wind). It is set between 1914–1924, before and during the reconstitution of Poland as the Second Polish Republic, but prior to the Polish-Soviet war. As the Russian Revolution breaks out, the main character, Cezary Baryka, escapes from Baku with his father, a Polish political...