Historical Fiction Series
The Linden Tree & the Legionnaire
Kārlis Pērkons comes of age under the boots of Communist Russia and Nazi Germany in the battle for his enchanted Latvian homeland.
Book I: Article 58
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.
"Mathur's tale draws the reader in immediately with a murder mystery and keeps up a brisk, action-packed pace throughout." — Kirkus Reviews
Book II: Witch Hammer
The darkest day of the year, winter solstice. The darkest year of the era, 1940 Latvia. Yet seventeen-year-old Karlis Perkons and friends vow to resist the chaotic Russian occupation. Oaths are tested under interrogation at the Corner House. High schoolers flee to the forest, and are drafted to the Red Army, and deported to Siberia. A mysterious fortitude is found in deep forest lore. Can solstice mumming, Yule logs, herbal medicinals and falling in love stand up against interrogation, torture, disappearances and rumors of worse to come? Pray the Germans will invade in time to save them from Stalin’s atrocities. But when the Nazis do come, that’s who Karlis will be sent to fight.
"Mathur ... involves the reader so vividly in her books, that one continually has to ask oneself, ... 'What would I do in this situation? Would I have the courage to stand up for my beliefs? Would I name names? Would I stand by while a friend is arrested? Would I fight or flee or freeze?'" — Topanga Mountain Messenger, Kathie Gibboney
Book III: The Knock at Night
(Momentarily Unavailable)
The Ghastly Year
ISBN-58-2459886032524
In 1940 Latvia, the Russian occupation is in, and high school graduation is out for Kārlis Pērkons and his friends. Resisting the Communists by any means, from pagan rites to Molotov cocktails, Kãrlis fights to survive the Stalin vs. Hitler meat-grinder with his dream intact.
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.