Product Description

The Petersons family of Toronto receives a visitor from the homeland. Life will never be the same, and romance may be to blame. A Visitor from Latvia follows the trials and tribulations of Andrejs Kalnins, a young Latvian lawyer, and his lively Canadian cousin, Klara. This is a story about love and relationships, loss and reconciliation, and the enduring resilience of families set against the backdrop of the Latvian-Canadian and contemporary Latvian experience.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1254036 in Books
• Published on: 2004-10-22
• Binding: Paperback
• 280 pages

About the Author
Sandra Upeslacis was born in Toronto in 1958, and is the daughter of Latvian immigrants. She has worked as a magazine, radio and television journalist and as a public relations consultant. Ms. Upeslacis holds a Bachelor of Journalism from Carleton University in Ottawa and a Diplome de langue et civilisations francaises from the Universite de Paris-Sorbonne in Paris, France. A Visitor from Latvia is her first novel.

Customer Reviews

Whaaa! I want a sequel!
I can't stand it. I am upset. Here I feel like I lived in these characters shoes during the most important events in their lives and now I have to actually wait for a sequel to find out what happens to conservative Andrejs, to colourful Klara, to crazy Ziedonis....ah, I trust there will be a sequel, Sandra??!! Sandra, don't do this to me. Please...would a tantrum help!?
Great story. As a Latvian-American-Canadian ,it was easy to identify with the first generation life-style of the struggling and Latvian...trying to come to terms with living "here" but belonging emotionally to "there" and trying to make sense of it all. A fantastic read. Thank you, Sandra. I am waiting...

Somewhat disappointing
The beginning of the book was interesting but it went downhill from there. The story of the why the Latvians had emmigrated and their determined efforts to keep their culture alive kept me reading. The attitude of Latvians who remained in Latvia toward those who had emmigrated was unexpected.

The love affair of the obnoxious Clara went on ad infinitum and then suddenly they married and went to Paris for their honeymoon. It felt as if the author didn't know how to tie everything up in an interesting way; she just quit.

I think I know the Petersons
A page turner! I feel I know each of the characters in some form or other, especially Ziedonis. Typos (e.g.- red and black current bushes) could use some work in the next edition.
I'll def read more from this author.