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Book Club Pick Critically Recognized
  • Swimming in the Dark by Tomasz Jedrowski book cover
  • Swimming in the Dark by Tomasz Jedrowski book cover
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Swimming in the Dark

by Tomasz Jedrowski

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First love amid political upheaval

$18.12 USD
$30.21 USD $18.12 USD
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Paperback New English

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Awards & Recognition

  • Book club selection

    A Dua Lipa Book Club Pick

    Selected as a Dua Lipa Book Club pick.

  • Editorial selection

    Named a Best Book of the Year by NPR

    Named a Best Book of the Year by NPR.

  • Critical praise

    Praised by O, The Oprah Magazine

    The magazine describes the book as a moving debut about a consuming love affair amid political upheaval.

AlbakiReads Editorial

First love amid political upheaval

Set in early-1980s Poland during the decline of Communism, Tomasz Jedrowski’s novel brings a relationship between two young men into contact with a country divided by political change. Their first love develops alongside a widening political divide, linking private experience with the pressures of a turbulent historical moment. The combination places coming-of-age and queer romance within a specific national setting, giving the book both an intimate relationship at its center and a broader political backdrop.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Readers interested in queer romance and first-love stories
  • Readers drawn to literary fiction set against political upheaval
  • Readers interested in coming-of-age stories in a historical setting

Themes

First loveComing of ageQueer romancePolitical divisionCommunist Poland

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY NPR - A DUA LIPA BOOK CLUB PICK

"Imagine Call Me By Your Name set in Communist Poland and you'll get a sense of Jedrowski's moving debut about a consuming love affair amidst a country being torn apart." -- O, The Oprah Magazine

"Captivating both for its shimmering surfaces and its terrifying depths. 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 coming-of-age story and literary debut for fans of Andr

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