“We all know ‘The Peasants’ and ‘The Promised Land,’ but let’s remember that Władysław Reymont learned to observe and think in living language when working on the railway and through acting – which is probably why the novella ‘Lili’ is so interesting to me. As a reader, I can trace Reymont’s lively language in it,” says Dr Eliza Kącka from the Faculty of Polish Studies at the University of Warsaw.