Beautifully written and considerate of different perspectives during the war. Very bitter-sweet. Recommended read.

The Lace Weaver is the first novel by Australian author, Lauren Chater. In mid-1941, the hard-won independence of Estonia (and the other Baltic states) was no more: the Red Army occupied the countries, installing pro-Soviet governments, although they put it this way: “the Baltics have always belonged to Russia. She has just welcomed them back to the fold.”

On their farm near Tartu, Katarina Rebane and her parents work hard to survive, tending sheep and growing apples. Much had been lost in the preceding years: Kati’s beloved grandmother Elina had died; her best friend Oskar Magi had fled after being accused of murdering his family; her brother, Jakob attends University in town, seldom returning home.

At least she still has her knitting group, where the important Estonian tradition of creating lace shawls, to be sold at the flea markets, is continued. But now, the Partorg (party organiser) in Tartu has directed that all their wool be handed over to the state: not even the meagre amount used for shawls can be retained. Will their tradition die?

Partorg at Tartu, Piotr Volkov has just received word that another round of mass deportations is to be enforced, when his daughter, Lydia turns up from Moscow. Reeling from the arrest of her beau, Joachim, and revelations about her mother’s death, Lydia has decided to console herself with a visit to her father, there in her mother’s homeland. But more shocking revelations are to come.

Within days, both Kati and Lydia are with other refugees in a forest camp under the protection of a partisan group, the Forest Brothers, while Oskar and Jakob have put on brown uniforms and are fighting the Russian soldiers. The partisan groups are pinning all their hopes on the Germans, confident that the Nazis will oust the Russians and return the Estonian government to power.

In an evocative historical novel, Chater blends fact and fiction to draw attention to the losses that war can precipitate: not just life and limb, but also the precious legacy of traditional arts and crafts that epitomise a nation. It’s easy to imagine how these groups of women knitting shawls and chatting would bring calm in troubled times. Chater also demonstrates how, even during war and flight from persecution, life with all it’s small joys and petty jealousies, goes on.

Chater’s extensive research on all matters Estonian and shawl-related is apparent on every page. She provides information in her acknowledgements on suggested further reading, although a link to images of the shawls, or even an illustration of some patterns would have been welcome. A moving debut novel.