How Long Is Exile?: BOOK I
Price range: $15.99 through $24.99
Description
The novel How Long Is Exile? because of its length had to be divided into two books: I-The Festival of Song and Dance and II-Going Home. The novel is about the Latvian people who suffered in and around World War II, as the two major world powers-Communist Russia and Nazi Germany-converged in fierce battles on the Amber land at the Baltic Sea until it was conquered by one, then the other, and again by the first, and its two million people were as if sliced up in many parts and scattered throughout the world. Divided with each part longing for the other, the nation survived the hot and cold wars, keeping the hope of freedom and the return home alive. That hope was nurtured in ethnic communities and especially enforced at supplemental schools and festivals. As a portion of refugees spun off and assimilated in their various host countries, a large remnant remained and kept the flame of freedom alive. This was no easy and cheap task. It called for dedication, sacrifice, money, and courage. It was watched and monitored from within and without for half a century until, in 1990, the Soviet Union collapsed, the Iron Curtain and the Berlin Wall fell, and the euphoria touched every East European country.
Additional information
| Format and Editions | Hardcover, Paperback |
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10 reviews for How Long Is Exile?: BOOK I
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Cathryn Elwyn –
Makes me want to meet my family out of the country
I’ve never travelled outside the country before, but I’ve always felt kinship with immigrants and their struggle to forge an identity in a new world. I was told my great great grandparents had settled here in Arizona from Ireland, and I would have loved to meet them. Astrida Barbin Stahnke’s story makes me feel like I may have. Someday I’ll reconnect with my Irish family.
Roy Jeanes –
Loving this real fiction
Not really crazy about autobiographies, but to learn more about foreign culture and history through this “fictionalized” historical tale was very delightful. I heard this is part of a trilogy, so I can’t wait to finish the last 50 pages so I can finally order the rest of the books.
Desiree Abrahams –
Anon
In this day and age when division between nations and cultures is amok in our land, it’s helpful to read the stories of those whose lives were forever upended by war and political fanaticism. Milda is such a brave woman, trying to make sense of her identity in the present world while reconnecting with her roots. It’s a bittersweet read, for me, but I hope others will find this gem of a book in their shelves as well, as it is very timely.
Naomi Jackson –
Diaspora distress is real
When you’ve been in exile for so long, you sort of wonder if you’ve stayed in your new land long enough to be considered a native or if you should make your way home. The diaspora identity is complex, rife with contrasting ideas and identities, and Milda, as a character, navigates all this with grace and quiet strength, and this is only the beginning of it. How Long Is Exile? is the perfect book for those who have lived through this struggle and for those who only hear about it.
Tori Brandon –
Make your home in these pages
This book is a lot of things. About family, about longing, about exile and the overseas Latvian experience, about individual strength and community spirit. It’s also even a little about feminism. But for me this book is really about one thing: home, coming to it or making one for yourself wherever you are.
Selena Lund –
Hoping for a happy ending
I’ve recently just read about being stuck in “survival mode” after experiencing a harrowing life event, and I can’t imagine how it must be for those who witnessed one of the world’s biggest wars firsthand and survived. Now I get to read about a woman whose whole life was turned upside down by it. I hope this one has a happy ending.
Hilda Elena –
In absolute tears!
I really thought this was an autobiography! It would have made such a fascinating life story. But this is a semi-fictional book of a woman who had to move to a new land to avoid political persecution with her family, and I guess that’s okay too.
David Wang –
Happy holiday homecoming?
Love love love eastern European culture and history and stories. Absolutely loved this book. And since it’s just newly the Christmas holidays, this book couldn’t have come at a better time, with all the gaiety in the Latvian Song and Dance Festival making up for my very somber corona Christmas LOL. The author is also such a wonderfully warm person, and anyone would be touched by her story.
Arthur Hogarth –
First step towards catharsis
There is no homecoming as long and as exhausting as the one detailed by Astrida in How Long Is Exile? And all of that heartache to find that the home you thought was yours has changed so much that you don’t even recognize it anymore? Ugh, my heart. But it’s still very cathartic. 10/10 would recommend.
Marcius Prebensen –
Thank you for this story!
Astrida has such an honest voice, it’s hard not to root for her heroine in How Long Is Exile? For the most part, the struggle that Mildy, the protagonist in this story, undergoes is reflective of many people who were displaced by many reasons. But the experiences she has also feels deeply personal. Every chapter I’m rooting for her to finally find happiness and completion!