Soviet Milk

I ultimately did enjoy reading Soviet Milk, but it took me longer than it should have done to get into the story. I didn't initially realise that the two alternating voices were those of the mother and her daughter - I saw them as one woman narrating different eras in her life so was confused by the frequent jumps in time. Ikstena, I have since learned from other reviews, isn't an author to mollycoddle her readers!

Soviet Milk is a novel of women, of dysfunctional mother-daughter relationships, of national identity and of personal freedom. At its heart is one unnamed woman who, prevented from following her dream career, abandons herself instead to substance abuse as she no longer particularly cares whether she lives or dies. Ikstena has her identify at one point with her daughter's caged hamster - able occasionally to run free within the parameters defined by an outside power (for the hamster, this temporary freedom extends to the walls of the daughter's room), but then abruptly reminded of her powerlessness as playtime ends and the cage door is again locked. The woman and her own mother can clearly remember when Latvia was an independent nation so are fully aware of everything they lost to Soviet rule. The woman's daughter only knows the Soviet regime and her primary focus has always been mothering to her mother. These dynamics are complicated, but poignantly rendered and in such emotional depth that, on finishing Soviet Milk, I felt as though I had read a much longer novel. This is only really a novella. I'm not sure I will now rush to read more of Ikstena's books, but I think the themes and scenes explored in Soviet Milk will remain with me. I feel this is a book to be mulled over at greater length in the days to come.

Most people are aware that I am a fan of Soviet literature, reading about people living through political turmoil fascinates me. So I knew I had to pick up Soviet Milk. This novel explores the effects of Soviet rule on one person. This nameless woman attempts to live her life in Soviet Latvia and pursue her dreams of becoming a doctor. However the state has other plans for her. Soviet Milk chronicles her journey as the state deprives her of her profession, her identity, and her family.

This is my first Latvian novel, and I will admit to having a very limited understanding of the Baltics. However I have read my fair share of Soviet literature so I was prepared. While this is a novel very focused on one individual, it does spend a lot of time exploring the mother/daughter relationship. This nameless woman has to struggle through so much, due to an unfortunate incident with a soldier in St. Petersburg. Reflective in tone, the novel is constantly searching for the answers. Switching between the bitter tone of the mother to a more curious tone with her daughter. It is a constant struggle between trying to hide the suffering from her daughter and her daughter trying to understand the depression of her mother.

Motherhood and milk are a constant theme throughout this novel. As a reader we are in this constant fragile state as we witness attempts of protection, anger, curiosity and sadness between the two women. This is a complex look into a mother/daughter relationship that says far more about Soviet and Latvian life that we might realise. Having conversations about this novel with Latvian blogger Agnese from Beyond the Epilogue, I know there is so much more to explore with Soviet Milk. I hope with many re-reads that I am able to start to understand more and more.

I believe this is autobiographical in many ways, giving us a little insight into Nora Ikstena’s own life. Margita Gailitis did a brilliant job translating this complex novel into English. I read this during a particularly stressful time at work and this lead me to struggle through this novel. I have a great appreciation for Soviet Milk but I review this knowing full well that I need to revisit this novel. I think it is worth checking out and I have continually been thinking about what Nora Ikstena was trying to do with Soviet Milk but I had to add a disclaimer as I struggled through the reading of this one. Not the book’s fault, just picked up at the wrong time.

This review originally appeared on my blog; www.knowledgelost.org/book-reviews/genre/literary-fiction/soviet-milk-by-nora-ikstena/