The Legend of the Serpent's Heart, or The Second Word about Yakub Shelyu

Radek Rak based his work on a real historical event – ​​the peasant uprising of 1846, which broke out in western Galicia, then part of the Austrian Empire. The arbitrariness of the nobility pushed ordinary people to massacres, the exact number of victims of which is still unknown. The most famous leader of the rebels was Jakub Szela – the writer made him the central character of his novel. But one should not expect a realistic story about the formation of the future national avenger from the work. Because Radek Rak skillfully circumvents this cliché, surrounding his hero with mavs, witches, sorcerers and devils.

His bizarre story, as if woven from numerous legends, tells about Jakub's growing up, his inner searches and suffering in the language of metaphors and extremely vivid images. In the end, the main character of the book will lead a peasant uprising, but here too the author will resort to an unexpected technique to ironically raise the question: "What is truth?"