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Nielegalne związki
Milosc i zdrada z punktu widzenia mezczyzny. Opowiesc o uczuciu, które nie ma prawa istniec, a zarazem analiza struktur spolecznych ograniczajacych wolnosc czlowieka, wiklajacych go w role, których nie jest w stanie wypelnic. Bruksela. Miasto wladzy, wielkiej polityki i ukladów, miasto gdzie krzyzuja sie drogi wszystkich narodów kontynentu. Ona - Megi. Polska prawniczka, robiaca kariere w Komisji Europejskiej. Piekna, inteligentna kobieta, za która mezczyzni ogladaja sie na ulicy, matka dwójki wspanialych dzieci. On - Jonathan. Maz, pisarz. Zajmuje sie domem. Meski odpowiednik Anny Kareniny, rozdarty miedzy miloscia do rodziny a gwaltowna namietnoscia do innej kobiety. Ta druga - Andrea. Narzeczona szefa Megi. Ambitna dziennikarka telewizyjna. Piekna, zmyslowa, uwodzicielska. Spotyka sie z Jonathanem w kosciolach, do których w swieckiej Brukseli nikt nie chodzi. Plebanek opowiada o zmaganiu z wymykajacym sie spod kontroli uczuciem, wyrzutach sumienia, leku przed ranieniem bliskich. Bez pruderii pisze o seksie, otwarcie stawia pytania o milosc, pozadanie i wiernosc.
336 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2010
About the author
Grażyna Plebanek
23 books20 followersGrażyna Plebanek was born in Warsaw, Poland. She is the author of the highly acclaimed and bestselling novels Box of Stilettos (2002), Girls from Portofino (2005) and A Girl Called Przystupa (2007). Plebanek’s latest novel Illegal Liaisons (2010) sold 27,000 copies in Poland and will be her first novel translated into English. In 2011 Plebanek was awarded the Literary Prize Zlote Sowy for her contribution to promoting Poland abroad. Plebanek is among a group of international artists whose portraits will be exhibited in Brussels Gare del’Ouest for the next 10 years. She lives in Brussels, Belgium.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
August 6, 2013
Don’t be fooled by the bodice-ripper cover. Sex sells, after all, but this is not erotica (the sex scenes are brief and more abstract than visceral).
Grazyna Plebanek is a hot new Polish author, and this is her first novel to be translated into English. It was a bestseller in Poland and made Plebanek a B-list celebrity in her native country. I would have preferred to read this novel in the original Polish but could get my hands only on the English translation via a free galley copy from Negalley.
Perhaps it was the translation, but the novel was oddly awkward and stilted. We are invited to observe, not participate. The novel doesn’t invite you in; it pushes you back.
Jonathan, an aspiring writer turned stay-at-home dad, is married to Megi and lives with her and their two small children in Brussels, where Megi, who’s a lawyer, has a well-paying job for the European Commission. At one of Megi’s work parties Jonathan meets Andrea, the partner/girlfriend of Megi’s older, high-powered boss. Jonathan and Andrea feel an instant attraction and soon embark on an obsessive affair that threatens Jonathan’s family, his very core. The adulterous relationship continues for a couple years and becomes an all-consuming, torrid, emotional heist and the talk of the small Polish community in Brussels (both Jonathan, who went to school in England, and Megi are Polish; Andrea is Swedish).
Meanwhile, sensing the ever-growing emotional chasm between herself and her husband, Megi embarks on a tryst of her own (because that will make everything better). Clearly, things cannot end well and, predictably, Jonathan must choose between his lover and his wife, his passion and his family.
Illegal Liaisons has been billed a modern comedy of manners, but it’s more than that. It’s also a novel about the politics of desire; it begs the (rather unoriginal) question: are affairs a symptom or a cause of a failing marriage? There is a biting edge to Plebanek’s work, a political and moral undertone, which highlights the relentless gossip and competition that is characteristic of expat communities.
Unfortunately, there’s not a lot of plot here, and the writing (at least in translation) is far from stellar; we get scenes and conversations and internal monologues (this is a novel written from the male perspective, but Plebanek cheats and gives us both Megi’s and Andrea’s thoughts via italicized sections that offer access to the women’s thoughts and feelings).
Grazyna Plebanek is a hot new Polish author, and this is her first novel to be translated into English. It was a bestseller in Poland and made Plebanek a B-list celebrity in her native country. I would have preferred to read this novel in the original Polish but could get my hands only on the English translation via a free galley copy from Negalley.
Perhaps it was the translation, but the novel was oddly awkward and stilted. We are invited to observe, not participate. The novel doesn’t invite you in; it pushes you back.
Jonathan, an aspiring writer turned stay-at-home dad, is married to Megi and lives with her and their two small children in Brussels, where Megi, who’s a lawyer, has a well-paying job for the European Commission. At one of Megi’s work parties Jonathan meets Andrea, the partner/girlfriend of Megi’s older, high-powered boss. Jonathan and Andrea feel an instant attraction and soon embark on an obsessive affair that threatens Jonathan’s family, his very core. The adulterous relationship continues for a couple years and becomes an all-consuming, torrid, emotional heist and the talk of the small Polish community in Brussels (both Jonathan, who went to school in England, and Megi are Polish; Andrea is Swedish).
Meanwhile, sensing the ever-growing emotional chasm between herself and her husband, Megi embarks on a tryst of her own (because that will make everything better). Clearly, things cannot end well and, predictably, Jonathan must choose between his lover and his wife, his passion and his family.
Illegal Liaisons has been billed a modern comedy of manners, but it’s more than that. It’s also a novel about the politics of desire; it begs the (rather unoriginal) question: are affairs a symptom or a cause of a failing marriage? There is a biting edge to Plebanek’s work, a political and moral undertone, which highlights the relentless gossip and competition that is characteristic of expat communities.
Unfortunately, there’s not a lot of plot here, and the writing (at least in translation) is far from stellar; we get scenes and conversations and internal monologues (this is a novel written from the male perspective, but Plebanek cheats and gives us both Megi’s and Andrea’s thoughts via italicized sections that offer access to the women’s thoughts and feelings).
October 28, 2013
To be honest, I expected way less from this book, maybe because of the context it had been presented to me. Now I am tempted to give it 4 stars. But I will stick with the 3.
It is not a masterpiece, but it surely will touch every expat in Brussels. It was a bit funny and pathetic to find the characters in a series of situations that I have encountered myself; I felt like an insider knowing the places where the story develops, being familiar with the work- and life-related situations in a city and environment as crazy and as diverse as Bruxelles. Or maybe I have already fallen in the bubble...
Otherwise, this could have happened anywhere else - families falling apart; people getting lost in the chores and banalities of everyday life, trying to emerge and find themselves; the yearning for passion, disguised as love... But the fact that it happens here, somehow makes you feel as being part of it. The characters seem 3-dimensional - not because of the exceptional story-telling; rather because of the familiar surroundings. The feeling that you've 'been there, done that'; the 'Polish plumber' implications; the dairy strikes; the crappy weather; the nostalgic hues and the 'I wanna go back home, but then I wanna go back home in Bxl'; the notion of home and of 'going back'...
I would recommend it to anyone who is trying to figure out if they would stay in Bxl or anyone who has already settled down in Bxl, but still wondering what if... if I could have ended up in a sunnier place... Wouldn't it have been a bit dull after all?
Cheers to all my friends from Plux... And don't get mislead by the title... It is your illegal liaison with this city. It is when you realise that this is definitely not love at first sight... But it grows on you... If you open up...
Finally, I will restrict myself to one quote only:
'He heard children's cries. They're what's most important, he thought. And women, men? That's just pumping up the ego. Which is life-giving, unfortunately.'
It is not a masterpiece, but it surely will touch every expat in Brussels. It was a bit funny and pathetic to find the characters in a series of situations that I have encountered myself; I felt like an insider knowing the places where the story develops, being familiar with the work- and life-related situations in a city and environment as crazy and as diverse as Bruxelles. Or maybe I have already fallen in the bubble...
Otherwise, this could have happened anywhere else - families falling apart; people getting lost in the chores and banalities of everyday life, trying to emerge and find themselves; the yearning for passion, disguised as love... But the fact that it happens here, somehow makes you feel as being part of it. The characters seem 3-dimensional - not because of the exceptional story-telling; rather because of the familiar surroundings. The feeling that you've 'been there, done that'; the 'Polish plumber' implications; the dairy strikes; the crappy weather; the nostalgic hues and the 'I wanna go back home, but then I wanna go back home in Bxl'; the notion of home and of 'going back'...
I would recommend it to anyone who is trying to figure out if they would stay in Bxl or anyone who has already settled down in Bxl, but still wondering what if... if I could have ended up in a sunnier place... Wouldn't it have been a bit dull after all?
Cheers to all my friends from Plux... And don't get mislead by the title... It is your illegal liaison with this city. It is when you realise that this is definitely not love at first sight... But it grows on you... If you open up...
Finally, I will restrict myself to one quote only:
'He heard children's cries. They're what's most important, he thought. And women, men? That's just pumping up the ego. Which is life-giving, unfortunately.'
February 9, 2017
Nie było tak źle, jak się spodziewałam. Podobało mi się opowiadanie historii z męskiej perspektywy. O ile główny bohater był całkiem przyzwoicie rozpisaną postacią, tak konstrukcja żeńskich bohaterek woła o pomstę do nieba. Momentami drażnił mnie zbyt infantylny, a nawet tandetny język powieści. Przynajmniej szybko się czytało.
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January 30, 2021Polskie małżeństwo przenosi się do Brukseli. Megi robi karierę w Komisji Europejskiej, Jonathan – pisarz, zajmujący się domem, dziećmi. I mimo, że wydaje się, że ich małżeństwo jest udane to Jonathan zaczyna zdradzać swoją żonę. Na domiar złego kochanką jest narzeczona szefa Megi.
Książka jest przedstawiona z punktu widzenia mężczyzny. Jonathan gubi się w swoich uczuciach. Z jednej strony szanuję i nie chce krzywdzić Megi oraz całej rodziny, a z drugiej pojawia się silne uczucie do innej kobiety z którym nie potrafi sobie poradzić. Chociaż jak się człowiek głębiej zastanowi to czy na pewno jest to miłość? Osobiście uważam, że nie. Wydaję mi się, że jest to bardziej pociąg seksualny. Jonathanowi, trudniej jest podjąć jakąkolwiek decyzję ze względu na dzieci.
“Nielegalne związki” była dla mnie emocjonalnie ciężką książką. Nie wyobrażam sobie jak można zdradzić osobę, z którą jest się w związku. Tak naprawdę nie rozumiem postępowania głównego bohatera. Z jednej strony pojawiają się u niego wyrzuty sumienia a z drugiej nadal zdradza swoją żonę.
Jak już pojawi się uczucie do innej osoby to powinniśmy zakończyć związek z obecnym partnerem a później zaczynać nowy. Dopuszczając zdrady rani się wszystkich łącznie z samym sobą. Przynajmniej ja mam takie zdanie.
Książka jest przedstawiona z punktu widzenia mężczyzny. Jonathan gubi się w swoich uczuciach. Z jednej strony szanuję i nie chce krzywdzić Megi oraz całej rodziny, a z drugiej pojawia się silne uczucie do innej kobiety z którym nie potrafi sobie poradzić. Chociaż jak się człowiek głębiej zastanowi to czy na pewno jest to miłość? Osobiście uważam, że nie. Wydaję mi się, że jest to bardziej pociąg seksualny. Jonathanowi, trudniej jest podjąć jakąkolwiek decyzję ze względu na dzieci.
“Nielegalne związki” była dla mnie emocjonalnie ciężką książką. Nie wyobrażam sobie jak można zdradzić osobę, z którą jest się w związku. Tak naprawdę nie rozumiem postępowania głównego bohatera. Z jednej strony pojawiają się u niego wyrzuty sumienia a z drugiej nadal zdradza swoją żonę.
Jak już pojawi się uczucie do innej osoby to powinniśmy zakończyć związek z obecnym partnerem a później zaczynać nowy. Dopuszczając zdrady rani się wszystkich łącznie z samym sobą. Przynajmniej ja mam takie zdanie.
September 18, 2024
Czytałam dawno, dostałam w prezencie. Takie sobie czytadełko, ale okładka sugeruje tani ero-romans, a jednak było tam ciut więcej. Aczkolwiek niewiele.
September 17, 2025
Główny plus za spojrzenie od męskiej strony, ale nie oceniała bym tej książki jako super dzieło
April 14, 2013
"One of Poland’s best-selling authors, Grażyna Plebanek will have been unknown to Anglophone readers until the release of Illegal Liaisons.
This is her fourth novel, but the first to be translated into English (by Danusia Stok).
It’s a welcome introduction, courtesy of the wonderful Stork Press: Illegal Liaisons shows Plebanek to be a writer of courage and intelligence, exceptionally well-positioned to examine a new European order, and a world where international manoeuvrings translate into personal intrigues." (Excerpt from full review at For Books' Sake.)
This is her fourth novel, but the first to be translated into English (by Danusia Stok).
It’s a welcome introduction, courtesy of the wonderful Stork Press: Illegal Liaisons shows Plebanek to be a writer of courage and intelligence, exceptionally well-positioned to examine a new European order, and a world where international manoeuvrings translate into personal intrigues." (Excerpt from full review at For Books' Sake.)
July 18, 2013
Advance Endorsement from Catherine Millet:
“A remarkable achievement. This riveting novel not only shows that intimate liaisons can feel every bit as ‘illegal’ as they do dangerous, but it also offers (sometimes literally) penetrating insights into the confluence of the personal and the political--here, at the heart of a twenty-first-century Europe where conceptions of gender roles and morality clash, comingle, and are redefined. A must for anyone with a mind for the erotic who also values their mind." — Catherine Millet, author of The Sexual Life of Catherine M
“A remarkable achievement. This riveting novel not only shows that intimate liaisons can feel every bit as ‘illegal’ as they do dangerous, but it also offers (sometimes literally) penetrating insights into the confluence of the personal and the political--here, at the heart of a twenty-first-century Europe where conceptions of gender roles and morality clash, comingle, and are redefined. A must for anyone with a mind for the erotic who also values their mind." — Catherine Millet, author of The Sexual Life of Catherine M
November 9, 2013
This book relates the story of an erotic obsession, but it's much more than that. It's also a picture of life in Brussels--which comes off as a cross between Washington, DC and New York City--among a group of Eurocrats and those connected to them, a picture of a marriage between two people who are in a sense struggling to find their way in a brave new world, and a picture of modern-day young, cosmopolitan Poles who are unburdened, yet not completely unburdened by the Communist past. I really enjoyed it, and I hope to see more of Plebanek's novels translated into English.
October 10, 2013
This is a raw edge story of an average man who gets himself in a moral twist. As the reader, you feel for his wife but crave the secret meetings with his girlfriend. I felt guilty just reading it. Overall, I felt it was well written for being translated from Polish to English. The scenes with Andrea are erotic but not as steamy as I have read in other books.
July 24, 2016
This book was not quite what I expected. I'm not squeamish about sex scenes and I admit it was an interesting take on a 'house-husband's' growing obsession with another woman, as well as all the rumination about expat life and feeling torn between countries (as well as disparaged for being from the 'new' EU countries), but it felt a bit repetitive and the female characters seemed to lack depth.
September 19, 2012
Intense emotions and complicated relationships are wrapped around scenes of eroticism and longing. Plebanek is a talented and wonderful writer. Full review here: http://littlewordsreview.wordpress.co...
April 8, 2015
So this is what those EU bureaucrats get up to in Brussels! Illegal Liaisons is the story of an all-consuming affair and the damage it inflicts on the lovers and everyone around them. Intelligent, perceptive, atmospheric, and at times, hot stuff. I couldn't put it down.
October 29, 2013
not bad, but slow...
December 13, 2017
Boring, repetitive, shallow…
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews