The English translation of 365 Days is officially available to read
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Until now, reading the book that inspired Netflix’s 365 Days was impossible unless you were fluent in Polish or willing to scour the Internet for unofficial translations. The steamy film is based on Blanka Lipinska’s Polish erotic novel series, first published in 2018.
As of February 2, 2021, Lipinska’s first book is officially available to read in English through Atria’s Emily Bestler books. The second part, That Day, will be released in 2022, possibly around the same time as the film’s sequel, which Lipinska is co-writing. And she confirmed that the sequel will be as exciting as the first film. “It will be a very exciting movie,” Lipinska told OprahMag.com.
365 Days takes its title from the story’s premise. While on vacation in Sicily, a Polish woman named Laura is kidnapped by Massimo, a mafia boss who believes she is the love of his life. If Laura doesn’t reciprocate those feelings within a year, she has the right to leave.
Readers, she stayed — a decision that inspired outrage and countless think pieces after 365 Days hit Netflix. The shockingly graphic film has been criticized for glorifying toxic masculinity and turning the kidnapping into a kind of romantic fantasy.
Despite its 0% Rotten Tomatoes score, 365 Days was an undeniable success with audiences: The film dominated Netflix’s Top 10 chart for two weeks and inspired curiosity about Lipinska’s original novel . With its BDSM-infused sex scenes and the billionaire’s flamboyant romantic lead, Lipińska’s novel is often called Poland’s 50 Shades of Gray.
Published in 2018 and 2019, the novel catapulted Lipińska, 35, from a makeup artist to one of her country’s highest-paid authors and a tabloid celebrity. quite literally — something she had mixed feelings about. “When I started writing books, I thought I wanted to be famous,” Lipińska said. I think it will be fun. No, it’s not like that.” “The paparazzi are everywhere. I go buy toilet paper and they take pictures. It’s not a comfortable situation. I don’t want to be a star. I want to be Mr. Nobody.”
Thanks to the film, Lipińska was on her way to inte
rnational stardom. Upon checking into the hotel in 2020, people at the front desk identified her as “the girl who created 365 Days.” This observation is accurate in many ways: 365 Days encapsulates Lipińska’s life.
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According to Lipińska, the 365 Days trilogy was born out of personal frustration. About eight years ago, Lipińska found herself trapped in a relationship similar to Laura in the novel, adding that Laura’s boyfriend Martin looked “exactly” like her ex. “They even have the same clothes,” she said. Although they were compatible in personality, Lipińska felt sexually frustrated. “He is perfect for me in everything,” Lipińska said. But not about gender.” “It’s a difficult situation, especially when you love someone so much.”
The character of Massimo—all his powerful energy—expressed what Lipińska yearned for at that time in her life. “At that time, when I wrote the book, I really needed someone who could take all the responsibility for me. I was in a moment in my life where I didn’t see a way out. There was just a big black hole. . I’m a tough woman. A businesswoman. I’m tired of having to make decisions about things – life, work, money. I think, It would be nice to have a strong guy What should I do?” Lipińska said.
Martin isn’t the only autobiographical character in 365 Days. Lipińska claims “85% of the story is true.
movie in Sicily to be occasionally overwhelming. “There were moments on set of the movie where I had to go to a dark room and chill for a little. It was too emotional. I remembered all of it from my real life. It was really weird sometimes, but wonderful. This was the biggest adventure of my life,” she says.
Lipińska emphasizes that her controversial books are meant to be entertainment, not a guide to life. She compares her books to Thomas Harris’s popular Hannibal Lecter book series, which inspired the Oscar Award-winning movie The Silence of the Lambs. “Hannibal Lecter eats people. Nobody says, If people watch the movie, they’ll start to eat people. No. It’s only a movie. It’s only entertainment,” she says. “365 Days is the same story as Beauty and the Beast, let’s be honest, but nobody gets upset about that because it’s a cartoon.”
Still, she urges readers not to judge her books from 365 Days alone, but rather to read the entire trilogy first. When viewed as a whole, she considers her books to be a feminist cautionary story. “I want to tell women to be focused and use their brains. Their independence is the most important thing in the world,” she says.
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Thanks to her books, Lipińska has achieved exactly what she hopes her readers achieve: Independence. “I have my dream life because I can give the people I love all they want,” she says.
Despite her success, don’t count on more novels from the author, who describes herself as a “businesswoman,” not a writer. “I wrote only one story, and now it’s finished,” she says. she says. While she started a novel that revisits 365 Days through Massimo’s perspective, she abandoned the project three years ago. “I said many times that I wish I never had to write anything again. If I don’t write anything, it means I’m happy.”
