Home Is Nearby by Magdalena McGuire

Feb 18, 2018 Amalia Gkavea rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, poland, european-literature, history, european-history, historical-fiction

*As always, any political comments will promptly receive the axe.*

‘’Martial law was for our own good, the government said. They said we all had to make sacrifices. And we would all be safer as a result.’’

One of the few certain things my 32 years on Earth have taught me is that I should never trust someone who says a) that something is for my own good, and b) that everyone has to make sacrifices. Especially when the aforementioned ‘’someone’’ is a man (or a woman) in power. Mainly, politician ...more

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Apr 05, 2018 Paula Bardell-Hedley rated it really liked it

Recommended to Paula by: NetGalley.

Shelves: historical-novels, netgalley, literary-fiction, political

“I, Anna Izabela Skowron ‘ ska, do hereby confess.”

I recall as a teenager watching grainy TV pictures of Lech Wałęsa, hero of Poland’s labour movement and head of the trade union group Solidarność (Solidarity), publicly addressing striking workers. At the time, the country was one of the least oppressive states in the Soviet Bloc, but things changed in 1981 when martial law was imposed by the authoritarian government and citizens were persecuted in order to crush political opposition.

The no

“I, Anna Izabela Skowron ‘ ska, do hereby confess.”

I recall as a teenager watching grainy TV pictures of Lech Wałęsa, hero of Poland’s labour movement and head of the trade union group Solidarność (Solidarity), publicly addressing striking workers. At the time, the country was one of the least oppressive states in the Soviet Bloc, but things changed in 1981 when martial law was imposed by the authoritarian government and citizens were persecuted in order to crush political opposition.

The novel begins with a group of students in a modest apartment in the western Polish city of Wroclaw. It is the first night of the enforced 10pm curfew and they can see tanks and soldiers “in their green uniforms and fur-trimmed caps” on the streets below. It is here we meet the narrator, Ania, a country-girl on a scholarship at the Academy of Arts, and her boyfriend Dominik, a talented student of journalism, as they smoke a joint and listen to the punk rock band Deadlock with their bohemian, party-going friends.

From this night forward, nothing will ever be the same for this promising young sculptor and her social group. Intellectuals and artists, along with thousands of opposition activists, are jailed without charge; civilian phonelines are tapped and monitored by government agents; a six-day working week is imposed and dozens of people are killed.

Home Is Nearby is an impressive debut from Magdalena McGuire, an award-winning Australian writer and researcher. Born in Poland but raised in Darwin, she paints a vivid picture of the turbulent political events taking place at the start of the new decade, and the demoralizing effects of living under a surveillance state where people are actively encouraged to mistrust each other.

Published by Impress Books (UK), McGuire’s first long fiction publication was apparently inspired by her own family’s life in the old country, with many parallels between her mother’s experiences and those of her protagonist. I was delighted to discover, before the story starts, we are provided with a brief but useful lesson on Polish pronunciation, in which she assures us that the language “tends to be consistent (unlike English, which has many exceptions).”

Not only is this book a well written, credible and poignant portrait of everyday life for Poles during the crisis, but it also reflects the solace of art in politically difficult times; the personal cost of pushing back against boundaries put in place by a totalitarian regime; the strength of character required to restart one’s life alone in a strange land; and the myriad connections between Polish and Australian history.

Many thanks to Impress Books for providing an advance review copy of this title.
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Oct 19, 2017 Cathy rated it it was amazing

Shelves: literary

Find all my books reviews, plus author interviews, guest posts and book extracts, on my blog: https://whatcathyreadnext.wordpress.com/

13 Reasons Why I Loved Home is Nearby

1) Our narrator, Ania: her relationship with her father, her courage, her determination to be true to herself, her commitment to her art and the gradual awakening of her creativity as she is exposed to the contemporary art scene

‘The tin can sculpture, the cubes, Malgorzata’s photos – these were far from traditional. And yet he ...more

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Oct 30, 2017 Linda Hill rated it it was amazing

Country born Ania is off to start a new life as an art student, but events in Poland mean her life won’t be quite as she expects.

I have a confession. Initially I didn’t like Home is Nearby at all because I picked it up and started it three times, getting interrupted and not getting into the swing of reading it. However, I finally found a stretch of time where I could concentrate and as soon as that happened I was completely drawn in to the narrative and totally absorbed in every element of this Country born Ania is off to start a new life as an art student, but events in Poland mean her life won’t be quite as she expects.

I have a confession. Initially I didn’t like Home is Nearby at all because I picked it up and started it three times, getting interrupted and not getting into the swing of reading it. However, I finally found a stretch of time where I could concentrate and as soon as that happened I was completely drawn in to the narrative and totally absorbed in every element of this beautifully layered and compelling tale.

Although I was aware at the time of the events happening in Poland around which the narrative is based, I had never really considered them from an individual perspective. Magdalena McGuire drills down through the layers of society so that the political, cultural and historical settings come alive from Ania’s viewpoint making everything personal, vivid and actually quite disturbing. Reading Home is Nearby narrowed that distance I think we have when we see things through the media and gave me an intense and immediate look into the lives of those affected. As a result I ended the book feeling moved and included.

Indeed, the characters were all so authentic and realistic so that I felt I knew them personally. I don’t want to spoil the plot but one small action from one of them (and you’ll have to read Home is Nearby for yourself to see if you know what I mean…) left me almost breathless with rage. I found myself talking to the characters, Ania and Dominik in particular, and giving them both advice and admonitions.

The quality of the writing is excellent. I have always considered art to be slightly pretentious and ’emperor’s new clothes’ but Magdalena McGuire’s writing helped me appreciate and understand what art’s various forms can add to our lives. I thought the exploration of the links between art and life was incredibly interesting.

However, it was the themes of loyalty, love, country, identity and, of course, what home is, that I found so affecting. The emotion I felt at the end of the book was physical so that the experience of reading Home is Nearby will stay with me for a considerable time.

Having begun not particularly engaged with Home is Nearby, I ended my read feeling as if I am a changed person as a result of Magdalena McGuire’s skilful, beautiful prose. What more can we ask of a book than that it changes our lives? ...more

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Nov 23, 2017 Amanda Stewart rated it it was amazing

This is a really solid debut by a beautiful new literary voice. I became easily immersed in the world of Ania and her friends, and as their respective journeys unfolded I was at turns nervous, delighted, sad, heart-in-mouth, breathless, ... and by the end, satisfied with the story’s ultimate destination. When the Polish Crisis began in earnest I became gripped by the story and had trouble putting it down! Finding time to read with a baby, that’s saying something. Knowing that the author managed ...more

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Dec 28, 2017 Michael Livingston rated it really liked it

A lovely book about characters caught up in the political turmoil of early 80s Poland and forced to wrestle with their priorities. McGuire writes gorgeously about art and creativity and her characters are well drawn and believable. A good first book of 2018.

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Oct 02, 2017 Thebooktrail rated it really liked it

Shelves: book-set-in-poland

Visit the locations in the novel

I feel better having read this novel. I’ve taken a peek into a world I’d never considered before and feel both shocked and enlightened. Most of the story, of this romance and fight for freedom takes place in the university of Wroclaw. A place of learning and for freedom of expression, the windows of which we look through and see the changes happening to the Polish people.

The Polish crisis is in the background and never overshadows the story of the fight for freedo ...more

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Sep 04, 2017 Ashleigh (a frolic through fiction) rated it liked it

Shelves: sent-by-publishers

Originally posted on A Frolic Through Fiction

*Thank you to the publisher for sending me a copy of this book!

So this book was very hit and miss for me, and for once, I can actually pinpoint why (a shock, I know).

Going into this, I expected to learn more about the Polish Crisis, considering it’s mentioned in the blurb. It’s described as if we’d see just how things were affected during this time, and I – not knowing anything at all about it – was very intrigued.

And I did love reading this book just description

Originally posted on A Frolic Through Fiction

*Thank you to the publisher for sending me a copy of this book!

So this book was very hit and miss for me, and for once, I can actually pinpoint why (a shock, I know).

Going into this, I expected to learn more about the Polish Crisis, considering it’s mentioned in the blurb. It’s described as if we’d see just how things were affected during this time, and I – not knowing anything at all about it – was very intrigued.

And I did love reading this book just to find out more about Polish culture. Small details, like how university was or how they ate carp on christmas day, made this book feel genuine. And as someone who has barely travelled anywhere and doesn’t know much about the world, I found it fascinating.

I just wish there was a little more about the actual Polish Crisis. I wish it felt a little more like a historical fiction book. Because while it took place during that time, and while you DO see the affects it had on people, I felt like there was barely anything to it. I didn’t feel that sense of unease I usually get when reading about harsh times. All of the problems felt kind of minor, even though they really weren’t.

Besides that, we had the characters and their relationships. I never got on board with the romances of the story, which were introduced pretty much immediately. It was all very quick and very serious, and I found myself questioning many a time how old the characters were. It made me wonder if people in Poland generally thought about marriage and children when they were quite young, or if these characters went to university at a later age than we do here. It made the difference in culture seem more confusing, because that small thing wasn’t explained.

But being set at a university felt like a big thing. I’ve not seen that often in books, and I loved it. Especially because there was such a huge deal about art. Art is often seen by general society as a pointless thing to study, and so seeing this book basically dedicated around people who study it? Well, it was lovely to see so much passion for it in the pages. Even if you don’t understand art that well yourself (like me), the feelings and atmosphere of each piece is explained, so you get the gist of how important it is.

And so as a standalone, I feel like this book did a fine job. Though it didn’t grab me as much as it could have, I did enjoy getting to see a bit of polish culture mixed in with an appreciation for art. ...more

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Nov 01, 2017 Anton Allen rated it it was amazing

I loved this book! It vividly evokes the romance and squalor of Ania's life as a student and an artist in communist Poland. The importance of love, creativity, and expression when times are hard, and the way we forge a sense of belonging. And above all the power of truth as a force for good in the world - something we can all recognise is important today. ...more

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Dec 26, 2017 Karen Lee rated it it was amazing

I was completely captivated by this book from beginning to the end as it transported me to communist Poland. The detail and research was flawless, as was Magdalena's evocative and exquisite writing. She is a master storyteller whose debut novel has given us a rich and deeply engrossing novel about the transformative power of art, the complexity of human relationships in impossible situations and most of all about finding where home is. This book will stay with me for a long time, as will Ania an ...more

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Dec 03, 2017 Fiona Robertson rated it it was amazing

Home is Nearby, the debut novel of Magdalena McGuire, is a book rich with themes of love, loss, home, inspiration, freedom and truth. I closed the final pages with the deep satisfaction that comes at the end of a good book. My heart was full.

This fascinating and emotional story follows the life of Ania, a young woman sculptor living in Poland in the early 1980's. We meet her friends and boyfriend Dominik in Wroclaw, and her beloved father back in her home village. Poland falls under martial law, ...more

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Apr 24, 2018 Tripfiction rated it really liked it

Shelves: books-set-in-poland

I took this novel with me to WROCŁAW (Poland) as it is mainly set there, and it gave me a wonderful insight and understanding of the city I was visiting today...

You can read more of our visit on this link: https://www.tripfiction.com/three-fas...

Have you ever considered a city break in Wrocław, formerly Breslau, in Poland? Pop it on your city break list, it has enough to keep you entertained for a long weekend!

Naturally I took a book that is mainly set in the city to read whilst I was there. Ho ...more

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Apr 04, 2018 Cass Moriarty rated it really liked it

Home is Nearby (Impress Books 2017), by Magdalena McGuire, is an impressive debut novel about belonging, home, art, relationships, culture and family, all set against the social, political and economic Polish crisis of the 1980’s.
Ania leaves her country town for university life in the city of Wroclaw where she hopes to pursue her dream of becoming a sculptor. She falls in with a group of bohemian artists, painters and writers, and together their activities push back against the regime. Ania and ...more

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Aug 10, 2017 Kali Napier rated it it was amazing

It's been several hours since I finished Home is Nearby and I haven't been able to start another book! I'm still trying to fill my lungs after being left breathless.
And to give some perspective, I read this way back when it was a manuscript that had just won the Impress Writers Prize. Since then, the ENTIRE last third has been rewritten and some minor subplots in the first two-thirds deleted. But that last section set mainly in Australia is stunning.
The first two-thirds are set in Poland in 1981 ...more

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Nov 16, 2017 Melisabeth Fell rated it it was amazing

I know Magdalena's writing more for her short stories and so was intrigued to read a longer piece by her. She didn't disappoint me! I adored this story, the world I was taken to and the characters I walked through it with. I always want to feel assured, like I am in safe hands with a writer, especially with a debut novel, and this is exactly the case.
I enjoyed getting under the skin of the creating it and I loved being reminded of that desperate need to create, to look for the new, push outside ...more

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Jul 27, 2018 Rubery Book Award rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2018-fiction-shortlist

Rubery Prize Shortlisted 2018

This is set in early eighties Poland, and focuses on the life of an art student as she goes to university, trying to establish a career as an artist during a time of government oppression. These are people living in difficult times who are getting on with life as well as they can. It offers an interesting account of the period, and an insight into student/bohemian life behind the iron curtain. The heroine is torn between loyalty to her politics on the one hand, and h ...more

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Oct 28, 2017 Jessikah Hope rated it liked it

Shelves: historical, 2017

3.5 rounded down to a 3. Full review to follow.

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Nov 08, 2017 Penny Gibson rated it it was amazing

I was engrossed in this book from the start. We witness the events of the 'Polish Crisis' of 1981 through the experiences of Ania, an Art student at Wroclaw university, and her friends, and we are drawn into this through the decisions that Ania must make. The historical events are seamlessly woven into the story, which carries us along, through her blossoming romance with Dominick, her concern for her father at home in the village, and her growing understanding of the importance of Art, for hers ...more

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Sep 30, 2017 Laura Turner rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2017-reads

All my reviews can be found on my blog: https://pageturnersnook.wordpress.

Beginning in 1980 in Wroclaw, Poland, before martial law was introduced, the reader quickly becomes acquainted with Ania, a girl who dreams of one day becoming a sculptor and who becomes that one step closer when she is accepted for a scholarship into university to study art.

In an era when a lot of political and social change is taking place, we follow Ania as she goes against the grain of the country’s crisis and when she ...more

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Dec 23, 2017 Rosie rated it really liked it

This book has two main threads, which interweave throughout the storyline - art, and Polish history. Both were equally fascinating to me. I found it intriguing to read about the political situation in Poland, life under military control, as well as normal rural life in Poland not so long ago. Alongside this I loved reading about Ania’s sculptures, how she gets her inspiration, and how she finds her own style and ideas.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone, and especially to people who ar ...more

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May 04, 2018 Mari LivTollefsonCarlson rated it it was amazing

It is fitting that Home Is Nearby begins and ends with water. The opening scene of a carp in the bathtub in the Polish city of Wroclaw is pivotal to the narrator, Ania’s, burgeoning artistic vision. At the end of the book, on the beach near Brisbane, Australia, Ania commits to a fluid sense of home. The book ends beautifully illustrate the themes of this debut novel: identity and belonging.
Poland declares martial law in 1980, just as Ania starts art school in Wroclaw. While her widowed father wo It is fitting that Home Is Nearby begins and ends with water. The opening scene of a carp in the bathtub in the Polish city of Wroclaw is pivotal to the narrator, Ania’s, burgeoning artistic vision. At the end of the book, on the beach near Brisbane, Australia, Ania commits to a fluid sense of home. The book ends beautifully illustrate the themes of this debut novel: identity and belonging.
Poland declares martial law in 1980, just as Ania starts art school in Wroclaw. While her widowed father works as a headstone carver in an outlying village, Ania and her avant garde friends put on and document art happenings despite increased surveillance and curfews. Ania and her boyfriend, Dominick, are both arrested. Under very different circumstances, Ania is released to Australia and Dominick to London.
Like Ania, the book’s writing is heavy on action and light on exposition. She learns from her father to wield tools and work hard but struggles to assert her own concepts. She develops as a character mostly by making mistakes and discovering what she doesn’t want to do before settling on more intentional goals. The narrative moves along through Ania and her friends’ artistic pursuits, lush with descriptions of the feelings various paintings, sculptures, and performances evoke. Dominick, a writer, spices up the dialogue with his charisma and charm, Malgorzata, Ania’s best female friend, lends a provocative flair, while boyfriends Dariusz and Krzysio a tragic innocence. Ania’s ability to appreciate each on his or her own terms makes them stand out in well drawn individuality.
Scenes of police brutality punctuate the otherwise bohemian student life, forcing Ania, and the prose, to a headier tone. In these sections, in prison and as Ania confronts Poland’s political tyranny towards her friends, she comes closer to defining her own vision. She speaks more about her ideals and herself in these scenes. Instead of bogging down the plot, these more reflective passages bring to light Ania’s power as an artist and woman.
The well researched novel, attested to by a long list of references in the back, emphasizes persons over politics. The primary conflict is Ania’s search for her own direction. While she looks up to Malgorzata’s activism and admires Dominick’s bravery as a journalist, she discerns she can follow neither of them entirely. Distance from Poland provides both space for Ania to discover her path and put Poland’s political situation in perspective. She doesn’t just want to react to its injustices but act creatively.
Although set in a tumultuous time in Poland’s history, Home Is Nearby asks universal questions about the artist’s life. The setting and well developed narrator, Ania, bring these questions into a poignantly personal focus. The questions aren’t so much answered as deeply explored through artistic endeavors and relationships. Ania triumphs as a strong woman at home enough in her own skin as to abide multiple homes.
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Mar 13, 2019 Lisa added it

Recommended to Lisa by: Angela Savage

Shelves: c21st, library-book-or-loan, australia

This book fits into of my favourite categories, 'Art in Fiction' but Home is Nearby is much more than that. Shortlisted for the 2019 NSW Premier's Multicultural Award this novel is an homage to the importance of art in our lives, but it's also a tale of displacement and the journey towards making a new home; and it's a powerful evocation of life in a totalitarian society as well.

This is the blurb:

1980: The beginning of the Polish crisis. Brought up in a small village, country-girl Ania arrives i

This book fits into of my favourite categories, 'Art in Fiction' but Home is Nearby is much more than that. Shortlisted for the 2019 NSW Premier's Multicultural Award this novel is an homage to the importance of art in our lives, but it's also a tale of displacement and the journey towards making a new home; and it's a powerful evocation of life in a totalitarian society as well.

This is the blurb:

1980: The beginning of the Polish crisis. Brought up in a small village, country-girl Ania arrives in the university city of Wroclaw to pursue her career as a sculptor. Here she falls in love with Dominik, an enigmatic writer at the centre of a group of bohemians and avant-garde artists who throw wild parties. When martial law is declared, their lives change overnight: military tanks appear on the street, curfews are introduced and the artists are driven underground. Together, Ania and Dominik fight back, pushing against the boundaries imposed by the authoritarian communist government. But at what cost?

The Polish crisis to which this blurb refers is the time when Soviet forces imposed martial law in order to suppress the Solidarity (Polish Trade Union) movement led by Lech Wałęsa. The trigger for this mass movement was stagnant wages and price rises, and at first the Polish government allowed its existence. Solidarity was, at the time, the only trade union not controlled by the Communist Party, and it advocated for workers' rights and social change. However, when its aims emerged as anti-Soviet with a republican agenda, there was a government crackdown and some years of repression before there was any reform. But readers don't need to know much of this to enjoy the book: it's enough to know that the young students in the novel were courting serious trouble from the authorities with their activities.

Ania learns the skills of sculpture from her father, who makes cemetery memorials in their village, and though she is his only child, he encourages her to take all the opportunities that come her way, so she takes up a scholarship to study art at the University of Wroclaw. There, while she struggles to find her own unique artistic style, she falls in love with a writer called Dominik, and she leads the kind of bohemian life we associate with being at university in the 1970s. She parties hard, and she meets all kinds of interesting people. But some of these fall foul of the authorities, and Dominik in particular writes material that's considered inflammatory. As the repression tightens, Ania and her friends begin to consider leaving so that they can express themselves—but they are too naïve to realise that it's not just a case of wanting to read, write and make art as they please... They are shocked when police brutality and imprisonment turn out to be far more serious than they had expected.

To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2019/03/19/h... ...more

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Oct 02, 2017 Jaffareadstoo rated it really liked it

Poland in the 1980s saw a great deal of change, both political and social, and for those who lived during that momentous time, life was changed forever. For Ania, living in small village with her father, her hopes of becoming a sculptor are just a dream, until she gets accepted onto an art course at the University of Wroclaw. Once there, Ania comes into contact with a group of young people, and swept along in their ideology, she finds that her life takes a very different turn.

The complex and dif ...more

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Feb 07, 2018 Julie Twohig rated it it was amazing

It's the mark of a fabulous book that I read Magdalena McGuire's Home is Nearby in two sittings. Little wonder that in 2016 Magdalena won the UK-based Impress prize with this debut novel; its central themes of home and place and identity and art.

Confession: For the past four years I have been in a writing group with Magdalena and therefore have been privileged to read Magdalena's short stories that have gone on to win major awards. Along the way, I also read excerpts of Home is Nearby, so readin ...more

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Apr 07, 2018 Harriet Springbett rated it really liked it

Set in 1980s Poland, during martial law in Poland, this is actually a coming of age story. It's about how a country girl becomes an artist and how, through friends she makes in the political milieu at university, she understands what she wants to do with her life. It's beautifully crafted (the author has won literary competitions) and I enjoyed seeing how the protagonist artist finds inspiration in what's around her and then develops this into art. I was afraid the political side would be heavy, ...more

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Apr 21, 2019 Kerrin O'Sullivan rated it it was amazing

Loved this debut novel with its exquisite sweep of Ania’s journey beginning in 1980’s Poland and set against an adrenalin-charged background of the political and economic upheaval triggered by the declaration of martial law — to evolving across years and oceans to a both true and uplifting resolution. (But you must read the novel…!)
So many threads of intrigue to sustain this compelling story–Ania’s romance with Dominik, a charismatic writer who takes on totalitarianism, Ania’s brilliant artistic ...more

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Jan 31, 2020 Gio rated it liked it

I have to admit it took me a while to get into Home Is Nearby. At first, I couldn't relate to the characters at all. Ania moves from the countryside to the big city of Warsaw to study art. Here, she falls in love with a writer, Dominik, and starts hanging out with his bohemian friends. When political events take a turn for the worse and martial law is declared, their life changes forever.

I was really looking forward to read about the Polish crisis of the 1980s, but McGuire never gets into as muc ...more

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Apr 16, 2018 Kathy Landvogt rated it really liked it

Home Is Nearby by Magdalena McGuire is a beguiling and beautiful story. Once I really entered into Ania’s journey it swept me along with an almost breathless energy: shifting social milieu of characters; new settings that quickly became so distinctive I could smell them; Ania herself see-sawing between seizing agency and drifting into others’ orbits (at least that’s how I saw her). In the midst of this whirlwind of personal and political changes, there was the slower rhythm of art-making. Maguir ...more

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Apr 22, 2018 Sonia rated it liked it

A nice story but I think I expected too much from this book. I was captivated at the beginning but then began to lose interest. For someone who knows little about Poland, I was expecting to learn more about the Polish Crisis of 1980. I have second generation Polish friends whose parents suffered greatly during the crisis, but the book made the events of 1980 seem minuscule, even though they weren't. I got a glance of what life was like in Poland but unfortunately not the whole picture. Despite t ...more

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Apr 02, 2019 Elaine Mullane || At Home in Books rated it liked it

Shelves: arc, 2018, readwomen, backlist-declutter

A passionate and relatively engaging debut set around the introduction of martial law in Poland. With a courageous female protagonist who is very well brought to life, a discussion of at the economic and political situation in Poland in the early 1980s and how it affects the people, and an interesting look at the inspiration behind art, I enjoyed reading Home Is Nearby.

I found the dialogue to be a bit inconsistent at times and I couldn't get on board with some of the romantic relationships that ...more

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