It leads him to take risky actions and valiantly declare: “No matter what happens in the world, however brutal or dystopian a thing, not all is lost if there are people out there risking themselves to document it.

While Janusz is intent on working within the system to ensure his individual survival, Ludwik becomes increasingly outspoken on condemning a system which leads to the suffering of many different people who don't enjoy the protection of privilege. Both men realise the perilousness of their positions within the Communist regime which actively punished same sex acts, but they have differing ideologies on how to survive this environment. But, while the eroticism feels amplified, so does his resentment for the disagreements which divided them. This adds to the heightened sense of romance as these are memories which have clearly been retreaded in the narrator's mind until they have a smooth, hard polish. The novel is told in the second person where Ludwik speaks directly to his lover Janusz recounting their past experiences. But, at the same time, the threat of Party politics and the punishment dealt for homosexual acts creates an atmosphere of suspense. Nothing else mattered in the dark.” They discover their own paradise in a beautiful, remote rural location. It's described in highly romantic terms where the pair are able to form a world of their own: “we lay facing each other, the tip of your nose on the bridge of mine. Prior to starting university they meet at an agricultural camp while serving their compulsory labour requirement for the country and embark on a passionate affair while reading James Baldwin's “Giovanni's Room”. Tomasz Jedrowski takes an interesting approach in his debut novel “Swimming in the Dark” which depicts two young men over the course of the summer of 1980 in Soviet-governed Poland. I think a couple of novels such as Sebastian Barry's “Days Without End” and Patrick Gale's “A Place Called Winter” manage to faithfully represent the past while also offering an uplifting message of hope. It can be so discouraging as a reader because, while I don't want to diminish the painful reality and struggle of homosexuals throughout the ages, I also want to believe there are stories from history where same sex couples could enjoy the same opportunities for both swoon-worthy passion and heartbreak that heterosexual couples possess. Given the many past and current instances of homosexuals being persecuted in almost every culture around the world there are few opportunities to plausibly invent examples of such relationships which aren't entirely secretive or don't end in betrayal/exposure/death.

It's a big challenge for a modern author to write a historical gay love story that don't end in tragedy.

Swimming in the dark novel