Novel
Aija
Not translated into English
Jānis Jaunsudrabiņš · 1911
Synopsis
In the Latvian countryside, Jānis, a fifteen-year-old cowherd, falls in love with Aija, a servant girl. The story, made up of small events that the narration brings to life, follows the first love of a poor boy for a young woman who is nothing like a dream woman and keeps her own reasons; Jānis and Aija will return in the next two books of the trilogy.
Context
The story first appears as a serial, in twenty-nine instalments, from 3 January to 5 February 1911, then opens a trilogy completed by Atbalss, in 1914 and 1915, and by Ziema, in 1925. Oskars Grosbergs translates it into German as early as 1922 under the title Aija : Erzählung, and the trilogy appears in Russian in 1973; a Lithuanian translation had existed since 1960. In 1956, the author, then in exile, consents to its reissue in Soviet Latvia with Baltā grāmata. At the Latvian National Theatre, Regnārs Vaivars has staged Aija, then in 2026 Atbalss Aija, with Laura Siliņa in the title role.
Who it is for
A long narrative that can be read on its own, without its two sequels. It is better to know that it opens a trilogy devoted to the same couple.
Prizes and reception
First part of a trilogy still performed; Jānis Veselis praised in its author a simple, careful art that brings the slightest events to life.