Swimming in the Dark by Tomasz Jedrowski

Selected for Dua Lipa’s Service95 Book Club 2024 and longlisted for the Polari Prize, this lyrical novel unfolds in Poland, 1980. Shy Ludwik meets Janusz at a university agricultural camp, and a dreamlike summer romance blooms. When they return to Warsaw, the Party’s scrutiny, intolerance, and corruption force them onto diverging paths. Poetic and urgent, Swimming in the Dark is an affecting tale of first love, political oppression, and the choices that define us.

Praise for Swimming in the Dark:

“Beautiful … A masterpiece” — Attitude
“An affecting and unusual romance” — Observer
“A remarkable, beautiful tale, utterly new and entirely credible” — Literary Review

Format: Paperback (softback), 256 pp.
Publisher / Imprint: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
ISBN: 9781526604989
Published: 18 February 2021 (UK)
Category: Poland; Modern & contemporary fiction (post‑1945); Adult & contemporary romance; Of specific Gay interest
Dimensions: 129 × 197 × 24 mm
Weight: 186 g