Swimming in the Dark by Tomasz Jedrowski – Poland
Oh my, what a book. I felt that tingle almost straight away, the one only a really special book gives you. The writing is so beautiful, so emotional, so descriptive, and because no word is wasted, falls on the right side of not being up itself.
Set mainly in Poland in 1980, the country’s inequalities between the few who ‘know someone’ and the many who don’t are drawn in bright colours and the drabbest of greys. The unrest that will eventually lead to an elected government ten years later is in its infancy, and this forms the backdrop to this exceptional love story. In this world at this time, homosexuality must be hidden. A reason for shame.
Ludwik and Janusz, both newly graduated from university, meet at a work camp and through a borrowed book discover their shared sexuality. They embark on a tense yet tender affair the author makes seem both dreamlike and real, but back in Warsaw, Ludwik faces difficult choices.
A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry – India
I decided to read this book as it was mentioned as one of the great stories of unlikely friendship, but had I looked a little more carefully before starting, I might have changed my mind. I am so, so glad I didn’t. This sweeping tale took me way out of my comfort zone to India in the 1970s (and the decades beforehand), carrying all the dirt, disease and poverty of the place and time with me.
For me it was an uncomfortable read, but the compelling characters made this novel impossible to put down. Dina, who is central to the story, was especially well drawn and I just had to know how her story unfurled. The web spins out from her, into the lives of those who touch hers, and the further to the lives of the fabulous cast of minor characters.
It’s a long book, and a cruel book, and I really didn’t like the way it ended. But it was certainly an experience and I am really pleased I picked it up.
Night Wherever We Go by Tracey Rose Peyton – USA
I have to admit I found this book a little disorienting at first, in trying to find clear points of difference between the characters and any sort of plot, but the sense of place and time was so breath-taking I carried on reading it, and I’m glad I did.
Set in Texas in the 1850s, Night Wherever We Go follows a group of slave women working on a small farm owned by a farmer who is clearly going broke. Much of the book is taken up with the daily lives of the women, but a narrative thread does emerge (and I know, with literary fiction it does take longer) and each of the slaves find their voice. The author’s skill is to immerse the reader totally in the awfulness of their existence; not just the hunger, the hard work, the degradation suffered, but the abominable inhumanity shown them by people who considered themselves their betters.
A book that needs to be read, that should be read. But apart from the quality of the prose, not one to enjoy.