#18 in Historical fiction
Swimming in the Dark
- 208
- Pages
- about 4 h
- Reading time
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About the book
Swimming in the Dark is a 2020 novel by Polish writer Tomasz Jędrowski. This novel was subject to a "hotly contested" six-way publishing auction, from which Bloomsbury gained rights. After being first published in English by Bloomsbury in February, Robert Sudół's translation was released in Poland later in the month. The writer’s debut novel, it is a gay love story set in the closing years of the Polish People's Republic. It received praise for both its quality of writing and compelling story as well as its tactful treatment of its LGBTQ themes. It received at least one starred review from Publishers Weekly, and was later longlist-nominated for the HWA Debut Crown.
Where the score comes from
The sources average 8.7 across 209 ratings — not yet many, so the reader vote carries 58% of the weight and the rest pulls toward the Historical fiction average of 8.0. That is how 8.4 comes out.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hardcover | 8.7 | 209 | 100% |
Reader voices
The most-liked reviews on Hardcover (credited to their authors).
“heartbreaking ‘People can't always give us what we want from them, you can't ask them to love you the way you want and no one can be blamed for that' my heart skipped a beat”
“Achingly beautiful and well-written. The language is simple, yet still evokes emotions and vivid, mental images. The young longing, and the fear of not being able to live authentically is spot-on. Held it together for most of the book, but the last few pages had me bawling.”
Frequently asked
How long is Swimming in the Dark?
It has 208 pages — shorter than 94% of the ranked books in Historical fiction.
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
Same shelf — Historical fiction — with scores between 8.4 and 8.5, closest to this book.
