Waiting for Stalin to Die

Waiting for Stalin to Die, set in 1949 Toronto, depicts Lithuanian refugees who, having escaped communism but still shaken from war, DP camps and loss of home, try to resume normal life. Vytas, a young doctor who saves the life of a child in High Park, gains admittance to medical school but is haunted by grief over a lost love. Maryte, a seamstress whose affair with a German officer won freedom for herself and her mentally limited brother, struggles to take care of him. Justine, a concert pianist raped during the war, strives to regain stability, music and love. Father Geras, an illegitimate child steered into the priesthood by his mother's lover, finds purpose in exile.

Irene Guilford is the author of a novel, The Embrace (Guernica 1999), and the editor of Alistair MacLeod: Essays on His Works (Guernica 2001). Her writing has been anthologized, translated into Lithuanian, and shortlisted for the CBC Literary Competition and the Event Creative Non-Fiction Contest. She lives in Toronto