If you’re up on your World War II history, you may already know that tiny Latvia, which shares a border with Russia, suffered greatly during its occupations, mainly because of its location. But its history is not as well known as that of other Eastern European countries.

V.Z. Byram’s debut novel, Song of Latvia, gives a bird’s-eye view into what the war was like for the small Baltic country and the people who lived there. Kirkus Reviews calls the book “an authentic and tense portrait of everyday people dealing with war,” as shown in this early description of the central character’s perception of what’s going on around her: 

The sky over Mija’s world had not yet been pierced with warplanes. The streets in their town had not yet felt the rumble of tanks. But the news on the radio and in the newspaper left no room for optimism. She kept her small handgun and a box of rounds hidden on the top shelf of her bedroom closet, covered with her oldest sweater.

A novel that evokes the feel of Doctor Zhivago in its scope and the way it treats the big-picture conflict at its core, Song of Latvia shows how the country struggled under both Russian and German occupation. Much of the material is drawn from Byram’s own family’s World War II experiences. It’s a fast-paced and compelling read, and as readers, we quickly become invested in the characters, especially Aleks and Mija, who are ordinary people reacting to extraordinary situations.

Byram, who lives in Fort Myers, Florida, was born in a displaced persons camp in Germany after her parents fled Latvia. She knows the stories of Latvia well and has a deep understanding of how the years of occupation shaped her family’s homeland. “First, Latvia was occupied by Russia, then Germany, then back to Russia,” Byram says. “Many Latvians thought they were being rescued when the Germans came in.”

Song of Latvia tells the parallel stories of Aleks, who enlists in the German army, and his wife, Mija, who becomes a resistance fighter. Aleks comes to realize that the Germans are slaughtering Jews and Latvians in a harrowing scene where he discovers a mass grave and imagines that his mother, Marina, could have met a similar fate:

Aleks stared into a woman’s lifeless eyes. “This can’t be.” He reached down and closed her eyes. Standing, he looked across the killing field. Marina could have been right; there might be twenty thousand or more dead people in the expanse of shallow ground covered by a thin layer of dirt and snow.

Aleks was not a religious man, but he crossed himself. “May the Lord have mercy on their souls.”

Johan said, “Amen.”

Aleks thought, My god. What kind of butchers did this? What have I gotten myself into?

While many of the events in the novel are based on the experiences of relatives and others they knew, Byram says she wanted to tell the story of the whole country of Latvia, not just her family’s personal history. “Dad often talked about what happened to his country and his family during World War II,” she says. The stories stayed with her, and she kept meaning to get them assembled into a novel. “My maternal grandfather was an officer in the Latvian army, and he, my grandmother, [my] mother, and her brother were on the Russians’ list to be shot on sight.”

Part of telling the story of the whole country of Latvia meant explaining the importance of song festivals in its culture, such as the Latvian Song and Dance Festival, which has been happening every five years since the late 1800s. “The…festival is such an important part of the history and cultural identity,” she explains. “It’s a giant diaspora and always [draws] way more people than can get tickets. World War II started for many Latvians, including my grandmother, at the song festival.” 

Byram came to writing a bit later in life; she had a career as a programmer but says she was feeling unfulfilled, and her father’s stories kept pulling at her imagination. She received an MFA in creative writing from Goddard College and taught literature as an adjunct professor, all while compiling the family’s stories that would shape Song of Latvia.

Byram says her writing influences are John Irving, author of The World According to Garp, and Louise Penny, who pens the Armand Gamache literary mysteries. Byram also counts Frank Herbert’s Dune among her favorite novels. “I…love a good story; I don’t really have just one favorite genre,” she says. 

Byram hopes readers get a full appreciation of how Latvians suffered under Russian and Nazi occupation and how determined a people they are. She says she’s been able to attend the song festival several times, and it’s always a highly emotional experience. “Every time I hear the Latvian national anthem it makes me cry,” she says. “Sometimes it’s tears of happiness because I am happy I got to experience Latvia and its song festivals; but [other times, I’m] really sad about what happened to the country during World War II and after.”

Kim Lyons is a Western Pennsylvania–based writer and editor with a soft spot for a great story.