Real Fiction Radio Broadcast: July 21, 2021 Noon ET WERA (96.7 FM) Streaming- wera.fm
"The Union of Synchronized Swimmers"- A hypnotizing set of stories about female athletes behind the Iron Curtain training for synchronized swimming competitions, funded by cigarette sales. The most unique read of the summer. Finnish author Cristina Sandu makes a splash with her U.S. debut. Highly Recommended. (Real Fiction - Lori Messing McGarry)
Cristina Sandu was born in Helsinki to a Finnish-Romanian family. She studied literature at the University of Helsinki and the University of Edinburgh and speaks six languages. She currently lives in the UK and works as a full-time writer. Her debut novel, The Whale Called Goliath (2017), was nominated for the Finlandia Prize, the most prestigious literary prize in Finland. The Union of Synchronized Swimmers, which won the 2020 Toisinkoinen Literary Prize, is her first book to be published in English.