Santa Biblia by Inga Žolude (English rights available)
 

Originally published in Latvian as Santa Biblia by Dienas Grāmata in 2013

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Santa Biblia is the fourth book from author Inga Žolude. This is a poignant, socially-critical novel that works as a fever-dream of womanhood and motherhood. Nima, the main protagonist, is on a mission to save the world; but she soon discovers the that her employers are the ultimate and unequivocal force that will actually destroy it. When all contact with her partner and lover is severed, Nima decides to take matters into her own hands and find a way to stop them. However, this new and initially straight-forward mission slowly takes on a wholly different meaning—and shape.

“At first glance, Santa Biblia, or 'the holy book,' seems to be a fantastic thriller—poetic, surreal, packed with references and vibrant detail—populated among others by a talking canvas backpack, a baby no one wants born, and shifts in spacetime. But it's also a story about 'Soledadians,' or 'all-aloners' ('one of us is always all of us'), and personal memories that are stored not only in the mind, but in the body. It's another necessary reminder that the meaning of life and the paths we take is to be found in life and those paths themselves—both of which continue on despite all the 'hows' and 'what ifs'."—Ieva Komane, literary critic

Illustrations by Jana Briķe.

About the author: Inga Žolude (born 1984) is a Latvian writer and translator. She received her master’s degree in English from the University of Latvia, and studied English literature at Southern Illinois University through the Fulbright Program. She is currently studying for her doctorate at the University of Latvia. Žolude's first novel Silta zeme (Warm Earth) was published in 2008. She has written two more novels since: Sarkanie bērni (Red Children, 2012) and Santa Biblia (2013). Red Children won the Latvian Writers' Union prize, as well as the Raimonds Gerkens prize.

Žolude has also published several collections of short stories. She won the EU Prize for Literature for her 2010 collection Mierinājums Ādama kokam (A Solace for the Adam’s Tree). She has also written several plays.

As a translator, Žolude has translated works by Philip Larkin and Robert Crawford. Her own work has been translated into numerous languages, including English, German, French, Swedish, Polish, Lithuanian, Hungarian, Czech and Bulgarian.

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