Three women, two countries, one hidden past – a novel about love, legacy, and resistance.

What happens when the past surfaces and casts new light on everything you thought you knew?

On a warm day at the end of August, TV photographer Birthe Johannessen travels to Hjartøy, a weather-beaten island off the coast of Northern Norway. She’s there on assignment – but also in search of answers about her own origins. An old letter has revealed an unexpected family connection, and living on the island is a woman who has kept the truth buried for decades: Erle Christensen.

For Erle, Birthe’s arrival forces long-suppressed memories into the open. She came to Norway alone, a child refugee from Latvia after the Second World War, and has never dared to look back. Now she must face what she left behind. Could family still remain in Riga? Who was she before she arrived?

And what really happened in Latvia, spring 1939?

We meet young Agate, living a privileged life in Riga’s cultural bourgeoisie. She falls in love with the idealistic architecture student Andris, but as war approaches and the Soviet grip on the Baltics tightens, both love and liberty are under threat. The decisions she makes will reverberate across borders and generations.

Anemone Blue is a sweeping and emotionally charged drama of fate, silence, and rediscovery – a story of women’s lives, lost histories, and the long echoes of war and migration.

With scenes set on Norway’s wild and beautiful coastline, in a haunting rural community, and in the shadowed streets of an occupied Latvia, the novel spans decades – from the trauma of war to the present day.