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

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

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 known as the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a literary prize awarded each year for the best novel written in English and published in the United Kingdom or Ireland. ...

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 someon ...

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

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

, 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 TwinLast Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two em ...

—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 (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, 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. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...

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