John Khmelevskaya is widely known in the post-Soviet space, since it was she who discovered the concept of “ironic detective” for readers of that time. Her heroine always fell into such incredible alterations that the readers were breathtaking from her indefatigable energy and the ability to get out of them without risk to health. Revealed along the way crimes and great humor made the novels of Mrs. Khmelevskaya long-awaited and loved.
Writer childhood
Many facts from the life of the main character are connected not only with the writer herself, but also with the people around her and the places where she visited. This gives the novels extraordinary credibility and causes genuine feelings for the life of John.
Joanna Khmelevskaya, whose biography begins on April 2, 1932 in Warsaw, talks with a great sense of humor and love about her noble origin in the novel "First Youth". One of her novels (Wells of Ancestors, 1979) is directly related to the family archive, which is difficult to figure out due to the sheer number of family ties. The great-grandmother of the writer had 14 children, of whom 9 survived and continued a noble family. In the novel “Wells of the Ancestors,” almost everything is true, except for a huge inheritance, as recognized by Joanna Khmelevskaya herself.
The writer’s childhood passed under the supervision of 4 women at once: mother, grandmother and two aunts - Teresa and Lucina. Because of the war that began in 1939, John received education at home, and Aunt Lyutsina, a journalist and a source of many useful knowledge, studied with her.
The beginning of a literary career
In 1943, John was sent to a monastery boarding school, and after graduating from high school, she entered the Academy of Architecture, which she successfully completed. Thanks to her sanity and sense of humor, John Khmelevskaya came to the conclusion that architecture is not her path. So it was influenced by the ancient chapel in Orly in France. Seeing this architectural masterpiece, she realized that she could not create anything like it in her entire life, and decided to try herself in literature.
Thanks to the old building, millions of readers got the opportunity to enjoy the work of the writer. Joanna Khmelevskaya (photo of the writer for the game of roulette posted above) awarded the main character of her novels not only with her name, but also with her character traits and passions.
So, her love of gambling, racing and playing bridge formed the basis of many novels, and numerous friends and relatives became the prototypes of book characters. The first novel was published in 1964 under the name "Wedge by Wedge" and immediately made the writer famous.
Personal life
The personal life of John Khmelevskaya did not hide, but successfully transferred to the pages of his novels. They feature two sons, an ex-husband, and lovers, friends and foes - all who surrounded her in real life.
By and large, each author’s novel is a piece of an autobiography in a certain age period and in those countries where she actually visited. A detective story dilutes real events in the life of Khmelevskaya, which creates an additional intrigue, seasoned with wonderful humor.
For example, an insidious blonde named Devil, who brought the main character to white heat, really existed and lived for several years with John in a civil marriage. She was once in an official marriage in which she had two sons, the defendants of each author’s novel.
All her colleagues, while still working at the architectural bureau, also became “victims” of her literary talent. As the author herself says in her autobiography, “First Youth,” most of her friends and acquaintances have a good sense of humor to forgive her interference in their personal lives. Those few acquaintances who were not endowed with the ability to appreciate the humor in her works, again, according to the author, are unlikely to give her pleasure by filing a lawsuit against her.
The author and her heroine
Khmelevskaya John, whose autobiography is estimated in 7 volumes, in fact, managed to turn each of her detective novels into the history of her life. The writer possessed the qualities that she endowed with the main character: she dashingly drove a car, smoked, played on a tote, went to races, traveled often, knew several European languages, had an indefatigable imagination and unlimited curiosity. The main feature inherent in both the author and John in her novels is his attitude to himself, to those around him and to events with a healthy sense of humor and indestructible optimism.
Books of Joanna Khmelevskaya
The list of Mrs. Khmelevskaya’s bibliography contains more than 60 works, including not only detective novels, but also works for children, journalism and a biography that deserve no less attention than any fictional story.
If you decide which detective of John is better, it will be difficult to make a choice, since they are all unusually easy to read, sparkling with humor and swallowing in one go. But not all of her novels are dedicated to John and her adventures.
For example, the main character of the works “A Big Piece of the World”, “Blind Happiness” and “Prose of Life” is a high school student Tereska Kempinskaya, who gets into terrible, sometimes funny situations with her friend Shpulka. A series of books about this amazing girl will appeal to people of any age, as they are full of humor, have a twisted detective story and are riddled with romance inherent only in youth.
Biographical books
Since Ioanna Khmelevskaya (the reviews of those who read her biographical novels confirm this) was not going to grow old, but she was very tired of the constant questions of journalists and fans, she decided to write her biography personally.
Most of all, the writer was scared that someone else would do it for her and mix everything up. Thanks to this fear, a cycle of autobiographical novels appeared, written in different periods - from 1994 to 2006. They are distinguished by the same unchanging sense of humor and a positive attitude to life, like other works by the author.
John Khmelevskaya died on October 7, 2013.