The Singularity

0 reviews
3 views
Genre Fiction
By Balsam Karam (2024)
Lyrical and devastating, The Singularity is a breathtaking study of grief, migration, and motherhood from one of Sweden's most exciting contemporary novelists. In an unnamed coastal city filled with refugees, the mother of a displaced family calls out her daughter's name as she wanders the cliffside road where the child once worked. The mother searches and searches until, spent from grief, she throws herself into the sea, leaving her other children behind. Bearing witness to the suicide is another woman—on a business trip, with a swollen belly that later gives birth to a stillborn baby. In the wake of her pain, the second woman remembers other losses—of a language, a country, an identity—when once, her family fled a distant war. Balsam Karam weaves between both narratives in this formally ambitious novel and offers a fresh approach to language and aesthetic as she decenters a white European gaze. Her English-language debut, The Singularity is a powerful exploration of loss, history, and memory.

Reviews

Have you read this book?

Share a quick thought — even 1–2 sentences helps other readers.

Top reviewers win book vouchers — the more you review, the higher you climb. See the leaderboard
Sum up your review in a single line (max 150 characters).
How did the book read — slow, medium or fast?
How did the book make you feel? Choose up to three.
What stood out most? Choose one.
If you enjoyed this book, tag other authors fans of it might like. Start typing and a list will appear, or add your own — remember a comma after each one.