Still need to get a copy? Find it here! (afflink)
Note: Remember that the Kindle version doesn’t include page numbers, so if possible order the paperback, which will enable us to stay together in our readings. (However, if Kindle is your only option, it’s still better than not joining us at all!)
Introduction to A Silver Willow by the Shore
Helpful Links:
- Review my Introduction to Literary Life Coaching video
- Download accompanying PDF for this book here
- Click here to chat about this introduction video
- Head to this forum thread to share your personal literary life coaching question!
- Still need to download our March-May calendar to see our weekly reading assignments? Find it here!
Quick Historical Context that will help with understanding this novel: (adapted from Brittanica.com)
A kulak in Russian history was a prosperous peasant, one who owned a relatively large farm and several head of cattle and horses and who was financially capable of employing hired labour and leasing land. Before the Russian Revolution of 1917, the kulaks were major figures in the peasant villages. They often lent money, provided mortgages, and played central roles in the villages’ affairs.
Although the Soviet government considered the kulaks to be capitalists and, therefore, enemies of socialism, it adopted various incentives to encourage peasants to increase agricultural production. The most successful peasants (less than 4 percent) became kulaks, often rivaling the authority of Soviet officials in village affairs.
In 1927 the Soviet government began to shift its policy by increasing the kulaks’ taxes and restricting their right to lease land; in 1929 it began a drive for rapid collectivization of agriculture. The kulaks vigorously opposed the efforts to force the peasants to give up their small privately owned farms and join large cooperative agricultural establishments.
At the end of 1929 a campaign to “liquidate the kulaks as a class” was launched by Stalin’s government. By 1934, when approximately 75 percent of the farms in the Soviet Union had been collectivized, most kulaks had been deported to remote regions of the Soviet Union or arrested and their land and property confiscated. This led to a period of widespread genocide that killed millions.