Description

White Shroud is considered by many as the most important work of modernist fiction in Lithuanian. Drawing heavily on the author's own immigrant experience, this psychological, stream-of-consciousness work tells the story of an 'migr' poet working as an elevator operator in a large New York hotel during the mid-1950s. The novel moves through sharply contrasting settings and stages in the narrator's life in Lithuania before and during World War II, returning always to New York and the recent immigrant's struggle to adapt to a completely different world. Strong characters and evocative utterances convey how historical context shapes language and consciousness, breaking down any stable sense of self. This translation will appeal to various audiences: readers of modernist and world literature, scholars of Baltic literature and refugee studies, and members of the Lithuanian diaspora unable to access this novel in Lithuanian. Written from the perspective of a newcomer to an Anglophone country, White Shroud encourages readers to better understand the complexities of immigrant life.