# Push Not the River > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Push_Not_the_River > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Push_Not_the_River.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Push_Not_the_River > Source revision: 1354708178 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|2000 historical romance novel by James Conroyd Martin}} {{More citations needed|date=October 2024}} {{Use mdy dates|date=October 2024}} {{Infobox book | genre = [Historical romance](/source/Historical_romance) | author = [James Conroyd Martin](/source/James_Conroyd_Martin) | isbn = 978-0-312-31150-6 | publisher = [St. Martin's Press](/source/St._Martin's_Press) | pub_date = 2000 | image = File:Push_Not_the_River.jpg }} '''''Push Not the River''''' (2000) is a [historical romance](/source/historical_romance) novel by American author [James Conroyd Martin](/source/James_Conroyd_Martin).{{Cite web |date=2003-08-04 |title=PUSH NOT THE RIVER by James Conroyd Martin |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780312311506 |access-date=2024-10-12 |website=[Publishers Weekly](/source/Publishers_Weekly)}} The novel is set in [Poland](/source/Poland) in the times leading up to and during the [1792 Partition of Poland](/source/Partitions_of_Poland). It is based on the real diary of Countess [Anna Maria Berezowska](/source/Anna_Maria_Berezowska) which was published in 2021 by Polyverse Publications. ==Plot summary== The story starts when the 17-year-old Anna is orphaned. She moves in with Aunt Stella and Uncle Leo and her cousins Walter and Zofia, a very [manipulative](/source/Psychological_manipulation) and promiscuous girl. Anna later meets Jan Stelnicki, falls in love almost instantly and remains obsessed with him for most of her life. Zofia, jealous because she wanted Jan herself, tricks Anna into coming into the forest where she abandons her. While there, Anna is raped by a stranger. Leo goes to where Anna was raped, but he gets stuck and Zofia and Walter watch him die. Shortly after the attack, Anna is married off to Antoni and moves to [Warsaw](/source/Warsaw). In Warsaw, Anna's life changes drastically. The [Constitution of May 3, 1791](/source/Constitution_of_May_3%2C_1791) is signed by King [Stanisław August Poniatowski](/source/Stanis%C5%82aw_August_Poniatowski), giving the peasants human rights. Many Polish nobles are enraged by the new laws and call for [Catherine the Great](/source/Catherine_the_Great) of Russia to deliver them. Anna discovers she is pregnant from being raped and gives birth to a son. It is revealed that Walter, who supports the Russians, was the one who raped Anna. Anna becomes a supporter of Polish independence but is forced to watch as her country is overrun by hostile powers. As the victorious Russians march on Warsaw, Zofia sacrifices herself to buy time for Anna and her family to flee the war-torn city. ==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== *[https://books.google.com/books?id=NjSJnB3xdIoC ''Push not the River'' on Google Books] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20090205100312/http://jamescmartin.com/exerptPNTR.htm Excerpts from the novel] *[http://media.us.macmillan.com/readersguides/9780312311537RG.pdf Reading Group Guide to ''Push not the River''] * [https://www.polyversepublications.com/blogs/news/looking-for-the-perfect-christmas-book-the-countesss-diary-isnt-it Article ''The Diary of Countess Anna Maria Berezowska''] {{Authority control}} Category:2000 American novels Category:2000 English-language novels Category:American historical novels Category:Novels set in Poland Category:Fiction set in the 1790s Category:2000 debut novels {{2000s-hist-novel-stub}} --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Push Not the River](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Push_Not_the_River) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Push_Not_the_River?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.