Swimming in the Dark by Tomasz Jedrowski

Once they return to Warsaw, the charismatic Janusz quickly rises in the political ranks of the party and is rewarded with a highly coveted government position. 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 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. When university student Ludwik meets Janusz at a summer agricultural camp, he is fascinated yet wary of this handsome, carefree stranger. 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 André Aciman, Garth Greenwell, and Alan Hollinghurst. Tomasz Jedrowski is a remarkable writer.' - Justin Torres, bestselling author of We the Animals 'Captivating both for its shimmering surfaces and its terrifying depths. '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

Swimming in the Dark by Tomasz Jedrowski