''In a Strange Room'' is a 2010 novel by

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

n writer

Damon Galgut Damon Galgut (born 12 November 1963) is a South African novelist and playwright. He was awarded the 2021 Booker Prize for his novel '' The Promise'', having previously been shortlisted for the award in 2003 and 2010. Early life and education Ga ...

. It was shortlisted for the

Man Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a prestigious literary award conferred each year for the best single work of sustained fiction written in the English language, wh ...

in 2010, as well as for the

Ondaatje Prize The Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize is an annual literary award given by the Royal Society of Literature. The £10,000 award is for a work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry that evokes the "spirit of a place", and is written by someo ...

Plot synopsis

The novel is divided into three sections, namely "The Follower", "The Lover" and "The Guardian". It concerns Damon, a South African writer who is infected by

wanderlust Wanderlust is a strong desire to wander or travel and explore the world. The term has its roots in German Romanticism. Etymology The first documented use of the term in English occurred in 1902 as a reflection of what was then seen as a chara ...

as he goes backpacking abroad and meet different people. In "The Follower", Damon meets a German backpacker named Reiner in

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

, and becomes his travelling companion. Subsequently, in "The Lover", he follows a Frenchman and two Swiss

fraternal twins Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of Twin Last Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two e ...

—a man and a woman—travelling through Africa. In both, Damon is aware of a homoerotic feeling which binds him to Reiner and Jerome, one of the twins. The final section takes place in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, where he is minding a female friend Anna with severe psychiatric illness and who is threatening

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

References

2010 novels 21st-century South African novels Novels by Damon Galgut Atlantic Books books {{2010s-novel-stub