Among the Living and the Dead: A Tale of Exile and Homecoming on the War Roads of Europe

Verzemnieks's impressive work examines the refugee history of her grandmother's family with sensitivity and compassion. During World War II, her grandmother Livija is married, her husband fighting as a Latvian conscript, with one young daughter and a son born just days before violence consumes the capital city of Riga. Livija flees with both children and becomes one of the many war refugees seeking safety in the European countryside. Ultimately reunited with her husband, Livija and their now three children spend years in a refugee camp before finally receiving sponsorship in Tacoma and emigrating to the United States. Through her visits to Latvia, the author develops and strengthens bonds with an extended family she clearly relishes. The trips don't erase the suffering and anguish of the past, but they do offer hope of reconciliation and forgiveness.