has the hallmarks of a restrained mini-classic: In simple, heartfelt prose, Jedrowski sketches a powerfully erotic first love transformed by politics into a romance roiled by risk and ethical ambiguity., 'An affecting and unusual romance, with a political undercurrent. Tomasz Jedrowski is a remarkable writer, alive to the ramifications of history and politics, in which the violence of a corrupt state can never fully stamp out the flourishing of beauty, grace, and resistance., Swimming in the Dark is bound to become a queer literary classic, and its rather sweeping political dimension breaks new ground in the genre., This lovely debut. I needed to see these boys, these lovers, through to the end. I began reading, and soon realized I wouldn't be doing anything else that day. Swimming in the Dark is captivating both for its shimmering surfaces and its terrifying depths. Lyrical and sensual, immersive and intense, Tomasz Jedrowski has crafted an indelible and thought-provoking literary debut that explores freedom and love in all its incarnations. Shifting from the intoxication of first love to the quiet melancholy of growing up and growing apart, Swimming in the Dark is a potent blend of romance, post-war politics, intrigue, and history. Their secret love and personal and political differences slowly begin to tear them apart as both men struggle to survive in a regime on the brink of collapse. Ludwik is drawn toward impulsive acts of protest, unable to ignore rising food prices and the stark economic disparity around them. Once they return to Warsaw, the charismatic Janusz quickly rises in the political ranks of the party and is rewarded with a highly-coveted position in the ministry. But in their repressive communist and Catholic society, the passion they share is utterly unthinkable.

Inhabiting a beautiful natural world removed from society and its constraints, Ludwik and Janusz fall deeply in love. After their camp duties are fulfilled, the pair spend a dreamlike few weeks camping in the countryside, bonding over an illicit copy of James Baldwin's Giovanni's Room. But a chance meeting by the river soon becomes an intense, exhilarating, and all-consuming affair. Tomasz Jedrowski is a remarkable writer.' - Justin Torres, bestselling author of We the Animals Set in early 1980s Poland against the violent decline of communism, a tender and passionate story of first love between two young men who eventually find themselves on opposite sides of the political divide-a stunningly poetic and heartrending literary debut for fans of Andre Aciman, Garth Greenwell, and Alan Hollinghurst.When university student Ludwik meets Janusz at a summer agricultural camp, he is fascinated yet wary of this handsome, carefree stranger. 'Captivating both for its shimmering surfaces and its terrifying depths.

Swimming in the dark novel