The Hidden Letters of Velta B

A dying woman tells tales of family and village life, closely interwoven with Latvian legends, to her super-eared son in this captivating novel of secrets, love, and memory. The Hidden Letters of Velta B.binds the poignance of human dreams to accidents of circumstance creating the tragicomedy of uni......more

Well-spent four hours. The book is.. bitter-sweet in taste, grotesque in places, humorous and quite non-linear. By which i would like to say that there are moments when it is not clear whether the author has decided to use artistic licence, or just confused the timeline, as some of the things just c......more

Set in Latvia, Maris, a young boy with abnormally large furry ears, is at his dying mother's bedside, from where he learns the wonderful history of his family, including his mother's wayward and unpredictable uncle after whom he is named. She shares with him the lives, loves and losses of their famil......more

"This is the power of word worked through the body." This a book so humble and delicate in voice, strong and rich in idea, wonder-filled and gritty in setting and character. Tale after tale of a Latvian family and village sinks into the marrow. Humor is tricky in fiction. But this book pierces the g......more

This unusual and haunting novel takes you into the intimate history of a Latvian town through the stories a dying grandmother tells her grandson--a young man born with exceptionally large ears that enable him to hear what is subtle and hidden--the secrets of the dead, the sounds of the earth, words......more