Published originally in 1976, The Shadow Catcher is the fourth of Polish writer Andrzej Szczypiorski"s novels to appear in English. The protagonist is 15-year-old Krzys, a sensitive boy who, in the summer of 1939, goes on holiday to the country. Rumors of war waft on the periphery, but no one takes them seriously. Over the course of just a few days, young Krzys falls in love, explores the nature of identity, faith and passion, and meditates on the position of the large Jewish population in Poland--a community the boy considers an integral part of his nation. The novel ends before war is declared, but readers know the eventual fates of both Poland and its Jews during the Nazi occupation. The Shadow Catcher is not so much a historical novel as a remembrance of a world about to disappear forever and the unsuspecting souls who peopled it.