Product details
- ISBN 9781916806207
- Dimensions: 124 x 198mm
- Publication Date: 07 Jul 2026
- Publisher: Peirene Press Ltd
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Paperback
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Spanning fifty years in the life of a nation, from the end of World War Two to the fall of the Berlin Wall, Soviet Milk gives voice to a Latvian mother and daughter swept up in the tide of history. The mother, a gifted fertility specialist, is exiled to a rural village after defending a patient from abuse by a Soviet officer. Stripped of her career, she sinks into depression. Her daughter grows up with her grandparents, struggling with her mother’s distance and the pressure of a society that leaves little room for autonomy. Finding hope in poetry and her dreams of a better future, the daughter moves towards both personal and national liberation, even as her mother slips further into despair. This is the story of three generations of women marked by Soviet rule and the love between a mother and daughter.
Nora Ikstena (1969-2026) was born in Riga. She studied at the University of Latvia before moving to New York to study at Columbia. On her return to the Baltics she helped establish the Latvian Literature Centre. A prolific author of fiction, non-fiction, essays, and short stories, she is best known for her novel Soviet Milk, which won the Latvian Literature Award in 2015 and was nominated for both the EBRD Prize and the Republic of Consciousness Prize in 2019. An international bestseller, the novel has been translated into 30 languages and was adapted for cinema and theatre. Her honours include the Baltic Assembly Award and Latvia's Three Star Order.
Margita Gailitis has translated some of Latvia's finest poetry and prose into English, including Sandra Kalmiete's With Dance Shoes in Sibirian Snows and Mra Zlte's Five Fingers.
