Lying Perfectly Still in Eswatini – Laura Fish

Submitted: 13th November 2024

Lying Perfectly Still in Eswatini – Laura Fish

A remarkable book and a review tinged with sadness as we lost Laura Fish this year. She died before her book was launched to the world and so this review is in honour and memory of her.

Map of locations in Lying Perfectly Still

Lying Perfectly Still in Eswatini - Laura Fish

BOARDING PASS INFORMATION

Destination : Swaziland

Author guide: Laura Fish

Genre: fiction

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A novel to transport you to

Map of locations in Lying Perfectly Still

A powerful and thought-provoking read. For a small book, it really packs a punch. It’s the literary equivalent of David and Goliath to be honest. What really moved me and challenged me as a reader (always a good thing) was the range of subjects and themes I haven’t really come across in many novels. Certainly not in this way and written about with such care and attention. Despite the political background of a country tucked away in Southern Africa, this is essentially a coming of age story.

The book is set during the AIDS epidemic and it’s about how all that plays out in the international ommunity – how the NGO’s, aid-workers etc dealt with it (or not as the case may be). I have ironically just watched the film the Whistleblower with Rachel Weisz and the shock, absolute horror and disbelief this left with me – this book does exactly that. It punches you in the gut.

I only hope in some way that the author knows what a legacy she has left.