Writer Lilli Luuk turns 50: "Our grandmothers fell silent because there was shame in being a victim"

Writer Lilli Luuk discusses her novel "Ööema," which gives voice to women of our grandmothers' generation whose stories have been largely absent from history books. Luuk emphasizes that during wartime, women bore the burden of everyday life while men were at the front or dead.

Writer Lilli Luuk celebrates her fiftieth birthday this year, and her novel "Ööema" brings to readers stories that history books have rarely told-the experiences of women during wartime and beyond.

According to Luuk, the vast majority of historical events have been recorded from a male perspective, while the female voice has often remained in the shadows. "It is said that women have two tasks during war: to wait and to mourn. But alongside this waiting and mourning, life had to go on every single day," the author explains. Animals needed to be fed, hay had to be made, and fields had to be ploughed-all things that women did, whose husbands were at war or had fallen.

The novel also addresses a culture of silence that characterized our grandmothers' generation. Being a victim brought shame, not sympathy, and it was precisely this that forced women to hide their experiences. Luuk believes that recording these stories is an important step in understanding the past and giving voice to forgotten voices.

The writer is convinced that exploring and telling women's experiences enriches our understanding of history as a whole, because behind every major event stand people who remained at home and ensured that life did not come to a standstill.