Wednesday 2 April 2014

The Housemaid's Daughter in Polish



Hot on the heels of the Chinese translation, comes Kolor Jej Serca.
Welcome - zapraszany - to The Housemaid's Daughter in Polish!

When a new translation is published, I often see the promotional material and the new cover before I actually receive my physical copy of the book. But never fear: there is always Google Translate. So I can confidently say that the title means 'The Colour of her Heart'. It turns out that this is the same title as the one chosen by the Dutch publishers with De Kleur van Haar Hart.

I am particularly thrilled with the cover image because the young woman and child are the most joyful of any of the covers so far. They positively bound across the African plains! After all, the story is supposed to be uplifting, even though we share the pain of Ada and Cath as they fight to preserve their remarkable friendship. I am delighted that the Polish publishers have chosen to take such a cheery approach.

The book is 432 pages long (rivaling the impressive Icelandic volume) and when I receive my copy I will do my usual check through to see how the translator has managed the uniquely African words scattered throughout the text. Will Miriam's lullaby that she sings to Ada Thula thu' thula bhabha have survived in the original or been changed to reflect local influence? How will the glossary deal with dassies, doeks and dorps?

Good luck to the Polish Housemaid! Powodzenia! (I hope I've got that right)

And there is talk of a Polish radio serialisation - more next time...

2 comments:

  1. Hello!
    I've just finished your book and I really want to tell you that it's beautiful!
    I bought 'Kolor jej serca' yesterday when I was in bookshop with my friends. I love Polish covers, because they are simply lovely. The story of Ada, Cathleen and Dawn is as splendid as Polish cover. I also like this version of the title - 'The Colour of her Heart'. It's like the colour of Dawn's heart, the colour of Ada's heart and the colour of Cathleen's heart is the most wonderful of colours. It's the colour which can defeat apartheit.
    And don't worry! Every Thula thu' thula bhabha, doek, dorp, dsssie have survived in the original :)

    Please, take a look (It's something like Polish goodreads). Your book have very good reviews and one of the most beautiful cover of books about Africa.
    http://lubimyczytac.pl/ksiazka/209690/kolor-jej-serca
    I like it even more than these:
    http://blog.literywpodrozy.pl/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/afryka.jpg
    http://polki.pl/work/privateimages/formats/E/175729.jpg

    Thank you for such magnificent story!

    Anja (Anya)

    P.S. Sorry for possibly mistakes. I'm 14 and I learn English at school :))

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Anja! Your English is fine!
      I am so pleased you enjoyed the book - you must tell your friends all about it so that they will go out and get a copy!
      Thank you and all the best,
      Barbara

      Delete