Diana Mathur, Author
Finally finished novel #4! Set in Latvia during the 1941 German occupation. Stay tuned!
The Linden Tree & the Legionnaire
A Latvian Tale of Blood and Treasure
Diana Mathur, Author
Kārlis Smiltens, Artist
Georgia Saroj, Artist
The Ghastly Year
After fifty years of exile, Latvian Legionnaire Kārlis Pērkons returns home, only to be accused of murdering KGB agent Igor Volkov. Their enmity goes back to 1940, when the Soviet occupation is so horrific, a Nazi invasion is seen as liberating. Kārlis and his high school friends band together, though friendship means illegal assembly, punished by death or worse under Article 58 of the Russian criminal code.
The Ghastly Year binds the first three books in the series, Article 58, Witch Hammer, and The Knock at Night into one unputdownable read, 500 pages.
These tales are inspired by the art and accounts of Corporal Kārlis Smiltens (1922 - 2017) de facto war artist of the Latvian Legion.
Cover art and interior illustrations were painted by Smiltens as a young man, while experiencing the events described in this fictional series.
Smiltens has donated over two hundred paintings to the Latvian War Museum in Riga.
