Hexes of the Deadwood Forest

Synopsis

Anna Frenza, the ruthless CEO of Poland's largest oil company, has little patience for environmentalists or anyone who stands in the way of progress. But when she is filmed making love to a tree while sleepwalking, her carefully constructed life collapses. Stripped of her career and certainty, she begins to unravel, slipping between the modern world and the medieval Duchy of Nysa, where a mysterious community of women living in the forest offers a radically different way of understanding power, nature, and freedom.

Wild, provocative, and darkly funny, Hexes of the Deadwood Forest blends ecological fable, feminist mythology, satire, and historical fantasy into an unforgettable literary fever dream. Bold and imaginative, Agnieszka Szpila's acclaimed debut is a fiercely original exploration of environmental destruction, patriarchy, and collective resistance.

About the Author

Agnieszka Szpila is an acclaimed Polish novelist, playwright, and cultural critic known for her fearless, genre-defying fiction. Hexes of the Deadwood Forest was longlisted for Poland's prestigious Nike Literary Award and has been translated into numerous languages. This edition is translated from the Polish by Scotia Gilroy.

Publisher
McClelland & Stewart

Publication Date
April 7, 2026

Format
Hardcover

Pages
368

Subjects
Literary Fiction · Translated Fiction · Ecofiction · Feminist Fiction · Polish Literature

ISBN
9780771010279