Crimson Light, Polished Wood

by Monica Raszewski

‘There is jealousy and deception in this strangely tender book that spans continents, generations and cultures. Pulsing with secrets, it stages the legacy of silence.’

Dominique Hecq Leonora has relocated to Melbourne from London and falls in love with Margaret, a fellow teacher who three years later dies of cancer. While still grieving for Margaret, Leonora meets and befriends Anna, the Polish woman who lives next door.

Crimson Light Polished Wood illuminates with subtle ease the influence Leonora has on Anna’s daughter, Lydia, introducing her to the world of literature and art.

This is a novel about the ways we all long for acceptance and how those we might feel most in touch with – including parents, siblings and mentors – can often have different values and views about us.

As such it is a beautiful work about art, gender, inheritance, understanding and celebration.

224 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2025

Reviews

[Veronica ⭐️ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review to follow

[Cass Moriarty · Rating 3 out of 5]

CRIMSON LIGHT, POLISHED WOOD (Transit Lounge 2025) is a slim, literary portrait of life by Monica Raszewski. In tender and sharply observed evocative prose, Raszewski tells a story about belonging, identity, family, mentors, legacies, history, acceptance, gender, sexuality, art, music and inheritance.

With quiet ease and strength, this novel is like a layered painting – full of hidden depths, accentuated details and ambiguous notes. Told back and forth over several decades, using backstory and letters and diary entries, the author invites the reader into a world of subtle and sometimes strained relationships, jealousies, passions, rivalries and loyalties. The narrative unpacks the complex feelings and emotions of parents, children, neighbours, friends and lovers, and the misunderstandings that might occur as time passes, sometimes corrected and sometimes not fully understood until after someone’s death.

Leonara has relocated from London to Melbourne, where she falls in love with Margaret. They are both teachers, but Margaret dies from cancer only three years after they begin their relationship. Leonara is left to deal with Margaret’s difficult and obstinate mother. In the meantime, she has befriended her Polish neighbour, Anna, and takes a particular interest and delight in mentoring Anna’s daughter, Lydia. Leonara introduces Lydia to art, literature and music, and encourages her to engage with the world through a different lens.

This is a quiet, intimate book about people’s inner loneliness and the many ways humans attempt to connect.

I found the first half thoroughly engaging and I was invested in both Lydia and Leonara especially. I felt the second half was more dense, more filled with information and people and situations, which somehow seemed to break the spell a little for me, the magical spell of a serene and slightly haunting atmosphere that permeates this story. I would have liked more dialogue.

But the shifts between generations, cultures and countries remain satisfyingly enigmatic, and the secrets and hidden motivations of the characters remain compelling.

If you enjoy beautiful, spare, literary prose, written with simplicity and close observation of the ordinary, then this slim book is worth your attention.

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book with a blurb that I would normally be interested in, however I struggled to connect with the characters, the plot … Just not for me.