#5 The Rings of My Tree: A Latvian Woman's Journey - Jane E. Cunningham

The well told story of Mirdza, who was a young woman displaced from her homeland of Latvia during World War Two.
Jane E. Cunningham writes beautifully from Mirdza's point of view that connecting with Mirdza through Cunningham's writing is seemless.
Mirdza's quiet strength and resilience is admirable as well as her selfless helping of others despite her own misfortune and suffering.

My mother always said that you can tell a good book by how hard it makes you cry.

As a Latvian-Canadian, the story especially hits a tender cord with me, and helped me to connect with my own family's story as they were displaced from Latvia and eventually found their way to Canada.