The Swell Season (Picador Books)

Plot

In the six tales that make up The Swell Season, Josef Skvorecky recounts the frustrated desires of young Danny Smiricky, a teenager growing up in the forties. These wonderful tales, full of wry humour and unexpected plot twists, seem to add up to a fond portrait of an innocent era?this is, however, wartime Czechoslovakia, and the fragile world of the adolescent falls under the shadow of the Nazi presence.A masterpiece of storytelling by the Governor General’s Award?winning author, this new edition of The Swell Season features a new foreword by the Oscar-winning stars of the film Once.