Becalming - by Aga Maksimowska (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Gosia feels stalled in her life, but a family trip opens her eyes to the life she has ... and the life she wants.

Gosia, a high school chemistry teacher, travels to her native Poland to visit her estranged father. Back in Canada, meanwhile, her father-in-law -- who has been more of a dad to her than her own -- is dying of cancer. Away from her routine, Gosia questions everything in her life, including her long-term boyfriend, Peter. She feels stuck in the terrifying time of early adulthood, in her first grown-up job while managing student debt, monogamy, and existential dread. Is this really it, she wonders?

Gosia's time in Poland gives her the chance to examine her life, and she finds herself pulled homeward to Canada, where she faces the fact that Peter's father -- like her own -- is far from perfect. Can she love despite betrayal? Can she find hope in her fiery, complex love for Peter? Is there something more to this life that she didn't even realize she had?

Becalming tells the story of two people realizing that happily ever after is not something to be but something to continue to explore, through adversity and outrage, tragedy and inspiration, and love.

A RARE MACHINES BOOK

Review Quotes

A richly drawn, sharply observed novel about the alienation of young adulthood and the tumultuous search for a love strong enough to survive disenchantment and despair.

-- "Jenny Offill, author of Dept. of Speculation and Weather"

Becalming is an exhilarating, propulsive, rollercoaster of a read, a novel so un-put-downable I devoured it in a weekend. Gosia is an unforgettable character expertly rendered--beautifully flawed, complex, and whip-smart--and watching her navigate the tangled web of adulthood, family, love, and passion is as funny as it is deeply heartfelt. Becalming is an achingly discerning portrayal of the messy business of growing up, feeling lost, and trying to fit in, and a profound exploration on how to survive finding yourself.

-- "Ayelet Tsabari, author of Songs for the Brokenhearted"

Becalming is a richly layered tale of a daughter untangling the myths and silences of her family's past. Wry, intimate, and evocative, the novel spans oceans and decades to ask how memory survives translation -- and what we owe to the stories we tell ourselves to stay afloat.

-- "Weike Wang, author of Rental House"

Full of precise descriptions and insights that read as brilliant and conversational, Maksimowska has created a world both intimate and expansive, that anyone who has ever questioned their life will relate to deeply. A wonderful and essential read.

-- "Danila Botha, author of A Place For People Like Us"

There is nothing calm about Aga Maksimowska's novel. It is a wild, intoxicating story -- equal parts desire and duty -- of what it means to be fully human. Gorgeous.

-- "Helen Humphreys, author of Followed by the Lark"

A masterfully woven constellation of funny, complicated, and heartfelt characters who grapple with what it means to be claimed by love and kinship and remind us that no matter how old, we are always coming of age.-- "Carrianne Leung, author of That Time I Loved You"

A penetrating portrayal of the deceptions we tell ourselves and others, the stories we cling to, and the stories we try to change. Drawn with tight and energetic prose, Maksimowska's wonderfully complicated characters made me wince and laugh and nod in recognition as they struggle with the impossibility of ever truly knowing others or themselves.-- "Tanis Rideout, author of The Sea Between Two Shores"

About the Author

Aga Maksimowska is a writer whose debut novel Giant, about premature sexual development and the fall of Communism in Poland, was shortlisted for the Toronto Book Award. Her writing has appeared in Polish[ed]: Poland Rooted in Canadian Fiction, Brick, the Globe and Mail, and others. Becalming is her second novel. She lives in Toronto.