Evergreen

A family history featuring exile, chutzpah, and ever new challenges

With the urns of her mother’s and grandmother’s ashes in the trunk of her car, Ruth drives to Lithuania to lay them to rest in the family's long-lost homeland. On the endless journey, she looks back at her childhood after emigrating in the 1970s. First in Israel and later in West Berlin, she began a new life characterized by language difficulties, survival skills, and bureaucratic hurdles. Once a celebrated singer, her mother struggled with depression, while Ruth longed for normality, finding support in music and sports. Evergreen is a novel about exile, new beginnings, and the quiet power of art in the shadow of major upheavals.

As moving as it is lightly told—an unforgettable debut

For readers of Alina Bronsky, Olga Grjasnowa, and Katja Petrowskaja

Ruth Olshan is an award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker