New generation does not know much about Soviet past, in Georgia as well. I myself needed to write this book, in order to understand what happened with my mother, to understand relationships and the time in which she lived. I wanted to put these two voices in one story. I choose a concise and simple language and told the story through two women – mother and daughter.
Every theme and emotion of the past came to me vividly as I was writing.
Writing was pleasure and I had a feeling there were no boundaries for me in the Latvian language. The “Soviet Milk” was the first novel which I wrote here, in my own house. I selected 1969-1990 – the period between my birth and the fall of Berlin wall. I agreed to be part of it because I already knew what I was going to write. Each had to select a period from 20 th century and work on it. In 2013 there was an idea to create series of novels about 20 th century Latvia. During this period, I worked, traveled, wrote, studied but the topic of relationship between mother and daughter was always very important for me and I had a feeling that I should go back to it. I had this novel in my mind for 25 years. My mother was 54 when she died, she never read my novel and I believe I started thinking about “Soviet Milk” since her funeral. It was translated in many languages, but the most significant fact was that I received the first copy of the book from publishing house on the day of my mother’s funeral. At the funeral she meets relatives and close friends of her mother, talks with them and learns about her mother’s life. The story is about the woman, who goes to her mother’s funeral, even though she does not know her well. The story of this book starts in 1998, when my first novel “Celebration of Live” was published. First of all, I would like to ask you about the “Soviet Milk”. It was mainly focused on rethinking the Soviet past, but the conversation touched many different topics. The interview was done at the end of July 2019, in Latvia.
“Mother’s Milk” was published in Georgia last year (publishing house “Books in Batumi”, translator Mzia Koberidze). It is a story about totalitarian and patriarchal system told by two women – mother and daughter. The novel is dealing with disobedience and freedom, rejection and pain. Her famous book “Soviet Milk” (“Mother’s Milk” in its original language) is about Soviet past. She was the center of attention at London Book Fair in 2018. Nora Ikstena is a world-renowned modern writer from Latvia.
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