Summary of Swallowing Mercury
“Swallowing Mercury” is a fictionalised memoir of the author’s childhood and adolescence in a small village in Communist Poland during the 1970s and 1980s.
Reasons to read Swallowing Mercury
In “Swallowing Mercury”, the author describes her upbringing in the countryside of Southern Poland, and the political and cultural events of the era as seen through the eyes of a child. This novella captures the bittersweet journey of a girl growing up into womanhood in Communist Poland. Wioletta Greg, also known as Wioletta Grzegorzewska, is a Polish writer and poet residing in England. Her novel “Swallowing Mercury” was longlisted for the 2017 Man Booker International Prize.
Setting: RzeniszĂłw, Silesia, (Poland)
Original title: Guguły
Year of publication: 2014
Nr of pages: 146
