Novel
Lavish romantic melodrama, obsessively concerned with sex. Maryska's husband is off to war. He soon is reported missing, and she does not protest much when is seduced by the husband's friend, a seedy professor with sickly wife and other mistresses on the side. However, the love of Maryska's life turns out to be a shy 17-year old, son of friends with whom she goes to stay.
Novel
The miners of one of the mines in Zagłębie Dąbrowskie receive news about the planned layoffs. The miners decide to organize a strike. One of the local MPs is trying to prevent this from happening. The French mine owner makes a dangerous decision - he orders the miners to work in an area at risk of fire. An explosion occurs unexpectedly. The miners lynch Coeur, and their demonstration, in which they carry the bodies of the victims of the crash, is brutally suppressed by the police.
