Newmag Presents Latvian Contemporary Author Laura Vinogradova’s Novella "The Crows" (Trailer)

The main protagonist of The Crows is Sanna, who spends her 14th birthday in an orphanage. She later manages to break free from that difficult world, but the mark of the orphanage continues to accompany her throughout her life. Past experiences prevent her from believing that she too deserves love, happiness, and a home of her own.

Years later, Sanna's daughter, Lia, grows up in a loving family, yet the need to defend her own identity arises in her life as well. In a world where being "different" often encounters prejudice, intolerance, and even hatred, Lia is forced to figure out who she is and how to live without losing her identity.

Vinogradova's novel is a story of two generations simultaneously. The mother's unhealed childhood wounds shadow her adult life, while the daughter tries to find her own path while inheriting and reinterpreting the family's past.

How to accept one's identity when those around refuse to accept you? Is it possible to overcome childhood trauma? How to forgive those who abandoned you, and how to learn to believe that you deserve love?

The Crows does not provide definitive answers to these questions. Instead, it tells the story of people trying to live with the wounds they received and, ultimately, find a place they can call home.

Laura Vinogradova says that the themes raised in the novel are not merely literary material for her. The author is involved in the work of a charitable organization protecting children with intellectual disabilities and is familiar with their problems from the inside.

"I write what I feel because I am involved in the work of a charitable organization protecting children with intellectual disabilities, and I know their problems from the inside. I have seen and heard a lot, and while I cannot write extensively about it, I also cannot bypass these themes. I hope I managed not to leave the reader indifferent, as I have no desire to please; I want to make the existing problems heard."

For that very reason, The Crows is not just the story of one family. It speaks about children growing up in orphanages, the consequences of abandonment, societal prejudices, and people trying to find their place in the world.

The novel is mournful, but not hopeless. At its core is the side of life that is not always beautiful at first glance, yet is worthy of being told.

Latvijas Avīze called the novel a "sad and soul-stirring novel about life." According to Latvijas Radio, it is a "warm, yet relentlessly true" story about orphanage trauma and prejudice.

Laura Vinogradova graduated from the Business Administration department of Riga Technical University and entered literature after the age of 30. In 2017, her first children's book was published, followed by short story collections and works for children.

Published in 2020, the novel The River brought Vinogradova international recognition. The book was shortlisted for the Annual Latvian Literature Award, and in 2021, the author won the European Union Prize for Literature for The River.

The Crows was translated from Latvian into Armenian by Naira Khachatryan. The main partner of the book is Cinema Star Armenia.