Among the living and the dead : a tale of exile and homecoming on the war roads of Europe / Inara Verzemnieks.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Verzemnieks, Inara, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Verzemnieks, Inara.

Verzemnieks, Inara--Family.

Latvian Americans--Biography.

Latvian Americans.

Latvian Americans--Social life and customs.

Refugees--Washington (State)--Biography.

Refugees.

World War, 1939-1945--Refugees--Latvia.

World War, 1939-1945.

Latvians--Biography.

Latvians.

Farm life--Latvia.

Farm life.

Families.

Latvia--Social conditions.

Latvia.

Social conditions.

Washington (State).

Genre:

Biographies.

Autobiographies.

Physical Description:

282 pages ; 22 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : W.W. Norton & Company, [2017]

Summary:

"A haunting, luminous reckoning with exile and loss. Raised by her Latvian grandparents in Washington State, Inara Verzemnieks grew up among expatriates, scattering smuggled Latvian sand over the coffins of the dead, singing folk songs with other children about a land none of them had visited. Her grandmother's stories re-created in vivid, nostalgic detail the family farm she'd left behind in a borderland violently contested during the Second World War. In the fighting, her grandmother Livija and her grandmother's sister, Ausma, were separated and would not see each other again for more than fifty years. Journeying back to the remote village where her family broke apart, Inara comes to know Ausma and the trauma of her exile to Siberia under Stalin, while reconstructing Livija's survival through her years as a refugee. In bringing together these two sides of the family story, Inara honors both sisters in a deeply cathartic and moving account of loss, survival, resilience, and love."--Provided by publisher.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [279]-282).

ISBN:

9780393245110

039324511X

OCLC:

990337880