User reviews

Interwoven storylines can clash, with minor tales seeming only a respite from the main thread, but Swooni is a fully-formed, multi character ensemble piece with very little spare. One day in the lives of a migrant parent and child, a couple and their teenage son (the only underdeveloped character), and a hotel employee and her mother, their paths crossing in an upmarket Brussels hotel, told in Dutch and French.

There are no punches pulled, as characters reveal personal flaws and make damaging mistakes. Secrets are exposed, relationships stripped back to reveal the faults. All seems to happen almost in real time, with the gaps being natural and understandable - we don't need to see an adult/child relationship change over two hours with a jigsaw; only the cold beginning and warm fulfilment.

There is even a natural feel to the switches, as one person passes another in a corridor, or stands outside the room of another, distracted by sounds from within. The plot flows organically and we are carried with it, genuinely caring what happens and how it will end.

The tiny details on which life hinges - whether someone leaves mid-argument or stays to ride it out, whether a couple face their difficulties or try to deny them - are well explored. Even the cynical can be caught by this, and the sentimental will be utterly captivated. Highly commended.