The Willow Roses

‘The Willow Roses’ is a true, fact-based story depicting Lithuania’s resistance against Soviet domination in the post war period.

The narrative develops in the Lithuanian village of Ažugiriai where people noticed willow trees ‘blooming with red roses’ in the winter after World War II. It is a natural phenomenon where the leaves of the willows left hanging on the branches in the winter become red and shrunk and reminiscent of roses. In Lithuania, it is believed that this incredible natural process prophesies tragedy, blood and death.

The prophecy came true when the terrible machine of Soviet terrorism unfolded all its supremacy in post-war Lithuania and the politicians of the time did not manage to resist, leaving citizens to deal with the situation on their own.

The author, however, does not go deep into historical analysis. Instead, he reveals the emotions and dramatic experiences of people, who had to take fatal decisions and withstand their outcome, to choose between their beliefs and keeping themselves and their families safe, to die or to obey.

Ričardas Kalytis: a Lithuanian writer, who lived through the resistance struggles and the exile to Siberia in person. Ričardas was born in 1932 and was sent to Siberia together with his mother in 1949, where he spent all his youth and came back to Lithuania only in 1961. Possessing a technical doctor’s degree and being praised for his scientific inventions and managerial work, he is also a prominent and award-winning author of historical novels.

‘The Willow Roses’ is his third novel, originally published in 1997. Before it, came ‘Our, not songs’, time’ (1992) and ‘The place of cry’ (1995), with the latter being awarded a National Literature Award Žemaitė Prize. Later, he wrote ‘The times of dogsbodies’. All four literary pieces depict the lives of people in historically significant moments transferring global conflicts to an individual level and showing off their drama through experiences, emotions, and the fates of ordinary people. All the novels are full of cultural symbolism, household habits and the linguistic particularities of the beginning of 20th century Lithuania, subtle humour being an indispensable spice even in the most tragic situations.

Format/pages: hardback / 408 pages

ISBN: 9786099630403

Publisher: Kacer Publishing House

Year: 2022