Controlled Conversations
A Novel
Category: Adult / upmarket.
Status: Forthcoming from Milford House Press, an imprint of Sunbury Press.
August 20, 2024. Available for pre-orders now.
The events of CONTROLLED CONVERSATIONS cover two weeks in the summer of 1982 in Soviet-controlled, martial-law Poland, the time and place in which no one knows whom to trust. Ordered to listen to the calls she connects, Emilia, a telephone operator in the small town of Zygmuntowo, overhears a conversation carried out in an apparent code. It continues to distract and bother her, but not as much as the growing realization that she’s falling in unsanctioned love with her best friend Kalina. Meanwhile, outside the seaside city of Frombork, Antek, a shipyard engineer and a Solidarity labor union treasurer, escapes an internment camp and works to recover the union’s money, a task which in time leads him to Emilia’s town. In the metropolitan city of Gdańsk, Roman, a secret police major, wants the money for himself. When geopolitical forces and violent men descend upon the little Zygmuntowo, Emilia must decide if she’s willing to risk prison or worse for the love of another woman.
Praise for Controlled Conversations
“Controlled Conversations reminds us of a time—not very long ago—of the struggles,
compromises, and corrosive impact of martial law on Soviet-controlled Poland.
It is a story not of future Nobel laureates but of regular people with different backgrounds and ambitions in a search for dignity, the freedom to love who they choose, and a decent cup of tea. At this time of threats to
democracy in Poland and globally, Lagodzki’s novel reminds us of the precariousness of personal liberty.”
Lee A. Feinstein, former United States
Ambassador to Poland
"Karol Lagodzki's debut novel Controlled Conversations, set in 1980s Poland under martial law, is both taut and timely, reminding us that conflicts in Eastern Europe have the power to shake the rest of the world. Lagodzki really knows his characters, and he writes about them with unfailing empathy. The book is riveting, and I loved reading it. I seldom find a contemporary novel this
engrossing."
Steve Yarbrough, author of The Unmade World
“In his debut novel, Karol Lagodzki gives a literary read, layered in psychological insight and suspense, but which is at heart a love story—one fraught with tension and desire and rendered in beauty. As a queer writer, I was drawn particularly to the central relationship of Controlled Conversations, a lesbian love
story set amidst the life-threatening tensions of 1980s Soviet-controlled,
martial-law Poland, a risky time and place to be alive, but riskier still to be queer and embroiled in political conflict.”
Brandy T. Wilson, author of The Palace Blues
“In his exceptional and precise debut novel, Controlled Conversations, Karol Lagodzki delivers a taut, psychologically rich literary thriller set in morally fraught, Soviet-controlled 1980s Poland. At the core of the drama is the theme of control, both self-control and state control. Each character—however pure of heart or nefarious—attempts to maintain intra- and inter-personal moral principles in the face of powerful external forces. Though Controlled Conversations is a tea steeped in the milieu of a perhaps-forgotten time, it is also a timeless tale that shines a light on values which are, to
this day, so very fragile: humanity, decency, love, and justice. With a courageous voice, Lagodzki assumes the mantle of the late John le Carré.”
Fredrick Soukup, author of Ashes, Ashes
“Karol Lagodzki has created an irresistible story populated by a rich, complex and unique cast of characters whose dreams, desires and circumstances are as firmly and believably anchored in a specific place and time as they are relevant to today. Controlled
Conversations is a captivating narrative so beautifully crafted that it will keep you reading to the last page, and once it is over, will make you want more. The story gets under your skin and makes you laugh and cry and wonder what you would have done then, and what you can or should do now. It is bigger than any label, but in the end, it is a love story at once about the limitations and endless possibilities of humanity.”
Elaine Monaghan, Reuters correspondent, author of On the Brink