The article reflects on the stories of families present in the novels of Stanisław Brzozowski: "Pod ciężarem Boga", "Wiry", "Płomienie", "Sam wśród ludzi", and "Książka o starej kobiecie". In all these texts, family threads are interwoven with the presence of trauma. It has a dual dimension: private and public, which, however, in the works of Brzozowski are strongly interconnected. These novels are treated as a series of components of the "grand narrative" enclosed in them and through them, regarding the Polish family in the nineteenth and early twentieth century. The ranking of Brzozowski's novels is consistent with the order of their creation, so treating them as a part of the single narrative range allow to observe changes taking place in the writer's reflection on the "family" issue. Each of these texts is formulated in the way that its main characters, criticising mechanisms of shaping interpersonal relationships, strive toward the self-awareness, and through it – to a conscious participation in culture, achieved by a responsible, though difficult, taking part in their own familiar privacy.
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