Among the Living and the Dead by Inara Verzemnieks
"It's long been assumed of the region where my grandmother was born... that at some point each year the dead will come home," Inara Verzemnieks writes in this exquisite story of war, exile and homecoming. Her grandmother's stories recalled the family farm left behind in Latvia, where, during WWII, her grandmother Livija and her grandmother's sister, Ausma, were separated. They would not see each other again for more than 50 years. Raised by her grandparents in the USA, Inara grew up among expatriates, scattering smuggled Latvian sand over the coffins of the dead, singing folk songs about a land she had never visited. When Inara discovers the scarf Livija wore when she left home, this tangible remnant of the past points the way back to the remote village where her family broke apart. Coming to know Ausma and the trauma of her exile to Siberia under Stalin, and her grandfather's own complex history, Inara pieces together Livija's survival through the years as a refugee. Weaving these two parts of the family story together in spellbinding, lyrical prose, she gives us a profound and cathartic account of loss, survival, resilience and love.
Inara Verzemnieks teaches creative nonfiction at the University of Iowa. She has won a Pushcart Prize and a Rona Jaffe Writer's Award, and has been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in feature writing. Among the Living and the Dead is her first book. She lives in Iowa City, Iowa.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781782274315 |
| ISBN 10 | 1782274316 |
| Title | Among the Living and the Dead |
| Author | Inara Verzemnieks |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Pushkin Press |
| Year published | 2019-04-25 |
| Number of pages | 288 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |