LATVIA

 

READ

I have gotten used to novels that alternate between past and present, structuring the plot by toggling back and forth between time periods. That seems to be the style du jour, and it’s an easy enough structure to follow.

Nothing I have read, however, prepared me for Inga Ābele’s High Tide, translated by Kaija Straumanis, which begins at the end and ends at the beginning. The book opens with a young woman dreaming about living her life in reverse so she can give life back to her lover, who died young. She agrees without hesitation.

We then move into the book’s plot. The protagonist is a thirty-three-year-old woman, Ieva, who is a screenwriter and the mother of a teenage girl named Monta. Monta’s father, Andrejs, has recently been released from prison, where he was sent for killing Ieva’s lover, Aksels.

As the plot moves backward in time, the reader learns about the relationships between these characters – the struggles between the intellectual Ieva and the older ex-soldier Andrejs; the conflicts that arise between Ieva, a single mother, and Aksels, who has no responsibility for anyone but himself; and the shocking details of Aksels’ death at the hands of Andrejs.

I had a very difficult time dealing with the format of this book. Rather than reading about the characters’ actions and then learning what the ramifications are, this book starts with the ramifications and then details in reverse chronological order the actions that caused them. The blurb on the back cover explains it this way: “High Tide functions as a sort of psychological mystery, with the full scope of Ieva’s personal situation – and the relationship between the three main characters – only becoming clear at the end of the novel.” Fittingly, the very last chapter in the book tells the story of Ieva’s birth. 

Would I have liked the book better if the chronological format had been different? Possibly, although the plot was dark regardless of the structure. If nothing else, I admire the author’s willingness to push the boundaries in her writing.

COOK

Food didn’t play much of a role in High Tide, but there were references to a couple of food items, rye bread and lingonberries, that were central to the recipe I decided to make, rupjmaizes kārtojums. This is a layered dessert made with rye bread crumbs, lingonberry jam, and whipped topping. It sounds like an odd combination, but it was actually pretty good. I was fortunate to find a vegan recipe for this dessert at veganphysicist.com. The recipe includes instructions for making the whipped topping, but if I were to make this again, I’d save myself the trouble and buy a tub of So Delicious Cocowhip instead.

GIVE

It wasn’t easy to find a Latvian organization to donate to. GlobalGiving, my go-to donation platform for this blog, didn’t have any projects in Latvia listed on their website. However, a little time spent with Google turned up Giving for Latvia, which provides “aid to the children and parents in Latvia who have suffered from emotional and physical abuse, and to those disadvantaged by age, disability, financial problems or other hardships.” Among other things, Giving for Latvia has provided significant support to Latvia’s only food bank during the COVID-19 crisis. More information about Giving for Latvia can be found at Giving for Latvia · Helping Latvian children in need.

 

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