Anna and the Swallow Man is set in Poland during the second world war, following a girl named Anna (surprise, surprise!) who, after her father is mysteriously stolen away in the middle of the day, is left to fend for herself on the streets of Krakow. She soon becomes acquainted with a strange and nameless man, who she comes to know as the Swallow Man. Though he seems dangerous, Anna has nobody else to depend on... what else has she got to lose? So she sets off with the Swallow Man on a never ending adventure away from the crippling dangers of Krakow, toward a life filled with much more sinister threats.
Firstly, this book was like none other I had ever read about the effects which the war and the Holocaust had on the people of Poland. Gavriel Savit approached the topic in a refreshingly new and thought-provoking manner. He suggested, however never explicitly stated, that Anna and the Swallow Man were Jewish, running away from the persecution of the Nazis. Through not knowing why, Anna and the Swallow Man were running, always running; Savit crafted an atmosphere of animosity and poignancy, reminding readers that the Nazis could be after you for anything.
Secondly, Savit writes with a certain flow that I cannot help but describe as lyrical. Anna and the Swallow Man is mainly composed with long, complex sentences, and detailed descriptions of what may appear to be the most unimportant of things. His beautiful adjectives and descriptions add a flourish of colour to a story so dark and bleak.
The characters within Anna and the Swallow Man, though few and far between, are impossibly captivating and compelling, some of which I do not think I will ever forget. The most interesting of all, in my eyes, was easily the Swallow Man, a nameless face shrouded in mystery and menace. Throughout the book I was never too sure whether he was as trustworthy as Anna believed him to be, but that simply added to my interest in him, his backstory and everything that he was. Looking back, I find it extraordinary how Savit managed to make me care for characters I knew so little about. Quite a talent!
Gavriel Savit also used his eloquence in writing to create different characters of the languages and the different threats within this book. I found it so hauntingly beautiful how the Swallow Man described the Soviet and the Nazi armies as bears and wolves to Anna; opening her eyes to the dangerous world she lived in yet managing to shield her from the true horrors within it.
Another aspect of the story I loved was the narration, which came across as effortless and managed to have me weeping from the first chapter. The way Gavriel Savit writes such a devastating story from the eyes of a seven year old girl is beyond me, yet I can’t see it being done any other way. Savit’s writing swept me off my feet as I read about naïve little Anna discovering the darker side of human nature, and learning to live and encompass the fear it stirred within her.
Finally, the thing I loved most and yet also the thing I found most confusing about this book was the plot itself. The whole story seems to be like a cycle repeating itself over and over as Anna and the Swallow Man travel and explore Poland, never really seeming to have a final destination. Perhaps that was Savit’s intention? A symbol of how our lives are simply cycles, repeating over and over, with no real end? That thought certainly adds to the philosophical atmosphere of the read.
As a whole, Anna and the Swallow Man was a truly unforgettable read and I think I’ve grown as a person from reading this book. It was intriguing, confusing, thrilling, emotional, poignant, action-packed and very much worth the read.
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