Read and discuss Scandinavian literature in translation as part of our Nordic Book Club, now online! Each month we select a novel from some of the best Nordic literary voices. On April 4, we’ll be discussing the novel The Union of Synchronized Swimmers by Cristina Sandu, out in translation from Scribe US.

In an unnamed Soviet state, six girls meet at the river each day to swim. When they find themselves representing their country as synchronized swimmers in the Olympics, they seize the chance they have been waiting for to escape and begin new lives away from the oppressive regime.

Scattered around the globe, six women live their lives in freedom. But will they ever be able to forget what they left behind?

A mesmerizing, multi-layered novella about freedom, women’s choices, and the ties that bind us to our pasts.

“Vivid… Sandu’s direct prose has impact.”—Publishers Weekly

About the Author

Cristina Sandu was born in 1989 in Helsinki to a Finnish-Romanian family who loved books. She studied literature at the University of Helsinki and the University of Edinburgh, and speaks six languages. She currently lives in the UK and works as a full-time writer.

Her debut novel, The Whale Called Goliath (2017), was nominated for the Finlandia Prize. The Union of Synchronised Swimmers won the Toisinkoinen Literary Prize and will be her first book to be published in English.