From Publishers Weekly
Don't let the awkward title of this comic novel put you off what lies within is a delectable tale of adultery, family life and regret. In November 1990, veterinarian Pawel Kohoutek looks out the window of his house to see his "current woman" Justyna dragging a suitcase across the lawn. She intends to move in, and Kohoutek can think of no better plan than to install her in his attic. Thus begins a farce of concealment, as Kohoutek tries to prevent his wife and various relatives living with him from learning of her presence. Although the story is occasionally lent an overburnished, cinematic glow, there are many rhapsodic moments of great poetry, especially as the novel progresses to its balanced and probably just conclusion. Pilch, who writes eloquent and witty prose beautifully rendered into English by Johnston's translation, brings his confused characters' interior lives to the fore in great, flowing, humorous monologues. Kohoutek, a devout and completely irrepressible adulterer, is an intriguing protagonist; his mistress is just as uncontrollable, constantly threatening to make herself known to Kohoutek's strong-willed and intolerant wife. There is, to be sure, a strain of misogyny running throughout the book, but it is usually balanced by the jaundiced eye Pilch turns on humanity in general. Readers who dip into this brief, light tale of the consequences of indiscretion will not be sorry unlike the book's protagonist.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
In this lighthearted novel, a best seller in Pilch's native Poland, veterinarian Pawel Kohoutek is a notorious womanizer, constantly seeking women and pouring out his heart to them. Finally, one of them (named Justyna) takes him seriously and shows up with her belongings at his home in the country. Not knowing what else to do, Kohoutek hides her in the attic of an abandoned slaughterhouse and attempts to keep her presence secret from his beautiful, educated wife, their child, his parents, his grandmother, and several lodgers. He sneaks food and drink out to the attic room but has a hard time keeping "his current woman" hidden. Frustrated with the situation, Justyna leaves the attic and announces herself to the family by pressing her nose to the dining room window at dinner time. The grandfather and his wife each try to figure out Kohoutek's behavior and resolve the situation. Comical and greatly entertaining, Pilch's first novel to be translated into English is recommended for all libraries. Lisa Rohrbaugh, East Palestine Memorial P.L., OH
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
